The future perfect looks back from a point in the future. It says that an action will be finished before that point: "By Friday, I will have written the report." At Friday, the writing is already complete.
The tense depends on a deadline. Words like by, by the time and before do most of the work: they mark the future moment from which we look back.
It is easy to confuse with the future continuous. The continuous shows an action in progress at a future moment; the perfect shows an action completed before it. This page separates the two, shows the form in questions and negatives, and gives you a 20-question drill with an explanation under every answer.
The rule
The form: will have plus the past participle
- Positive: subject plus will have plus the past participle. "I will have finished." "She will have left."
- Negative: will not have plus the past participle. "They will not have arrived by then."
- Question: Will plus subject plus have plus the past participle. "Will you have finished by six?"
- Short forms: I'll have finished, she'll have left, we won't have arrived.
- The participle is the third form of the verb: finished, written, gone, seen, bought.
Completed before a future deadline
- Use it with by plus a time: "By nine, I will have cooked dinner."
- Use it with by the time plus a clause in the present: "By the time you arrive, I will have cooked dinner."
- Use it with before: "I will have read the book before the class starts."
- The action is complete at the future point. Whether it finished five minutes or five years earlier does not matter.
Not the same as the future continuous
- Future continuous: the action is in progress at the future moment. "At nine, I will be cooking dinner."
- Future perfect: the action is complete before the future moment. "By nine, I will have cooked dinner."
- Both can describe the same real situation, but they answer different questions: "what is happening?" versus "what is already done?".
- Use the continuous for the scene at a moment, and the perfect for the result waiting at a deadline.
Duration and repeated actions
- With for plus a period, the future perfect can measure how long something will have lasted: "By May, he will have worked here for a year."
- The future perfect continuous is also possible and stresses the activity: "will have been working here for a year".
- With a number of finished actions, the future perfect counts them: "By the end of the tour, we will have visited twelve cities."
- Choose the simpler form unless the length of the activity is the point.
Time clauses and common traps
- The clause after by the time stays in the present simple, never will: "By the time you get here, I will have left."
- Do not use the future perfect for something still in progress at the deadline: "By eight, I will be watching the match", not "will have watched", if the match is still on.
- Irregular participles cause mistakes: gone, not went; seen, not saw; written, not wrote.
- In speech, the present perfect or going to often replaces the future perfect, but in exams and writing the future perfect is the precise choice.
Examples
- By next June, I will have finished my degree.The degree is complete before June, the future deadline.
- She will have read the whole book by Friday.By Friday marks the point after the reading is finished.
- By 2050, scientists will have found a cure.A prediction about a result completed before a future year.
- Will you have finished your homework by dinner?A question about a deadline: is the homework complete before dinner?
- By the time we arrive, they will have started the film.By the time takes the present arrive; the main clause looks back from the arrival.
- I will not have sent the email before noon.Negative future perfect: will not have plus the participle.
- By next month, he will have worked here for ten years.For plus a period measures how long the job will have lasted.
- By the end of the tour, we will have visited twelve cities.The future perfect counts completed visits.
- The builders will have repaired the roof before winter comes.Before marks the deadline the repair must beat.
- By the time you call, I will have left the office.The leaving is complete before the call, so the future perfect fits.
Common mistakes
- Wrong: By Friday, I will have went to the bank. Right: By Friday, I will have gone to the bank.
- The future perfect uses the past participle gone, not the past simple went.
- Wrong: By the time you will arrive, I will have cooked dinner. Right: By the time you arrive, I will have cooked dinner.
- The time clause after by the time takes the present simple, never will.
- Wrong: At nine, I will have cooked dinner, so the kitchen will be busy. Right: At nine, I will be cooking dinner, so the kitchen will be busy.
- Cooking is still in progress at nine, so the future continuous is needed. The future perfect means the cooking is already finished.
- Wrong: She will has finished the report by Monday. Right: She will have finished the report by Monday.
- After will, the auxiliary is always have, never has.
- Wrong: Will you have finish the project by Friday? Right: Will you have finished the project by Friday?
- The question needs the past participle finished after have.
Practice drill
Answer all 20 questions. Each answer is marked at once, and the rule is explained under the question.
By next June, I ___ my degree.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. will have finished The degree is complete before the future deadline in June, so the future perfect is correct: will have finished.
She ___ the whole book by Friday.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. will have read By Friday marks the point after the reading is complete: will have read.
By 2050, scientists ___ a cure.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. will have found The future perfect describes a result complete before a future year: will have found.
Will you ___ your homework by dinner?
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. have finished The future perfect question uses will you have plus the participle: Will you have finished?
By the time we arrive, they ___ the film.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. will have started The film starts before our arrival, so the future perfect looks back from the arrival: will have started.
By next month, he ___ here for ten years.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. will have worked For plus a period measures how long the job will have lasted by next month: will have worked.
I ___ the report before the meeting starts.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. will have written The report is complete before the meeting, so the future perfect fits: will have written.
They ___ the bridge by the end of the year.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. will have built By the end of the year marks the deadline after the building is complete: will have built.
By the time you call, I ___ the office.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. will have left The leaving is complete before the call, so use the future perfect: will have left.
By noon, she ___ the email.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. will not have sent The negative future perfect is will not have plus the participle: will not have sent.
___ you have finished the project by Friday?
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Will The future perfect question begins with will: Will you have finished?
By the time the guests arrive, we ___ everything.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. will have prepared The preparation is complete before the guests arrive: will have prepared.
In two years, he ___ enough money to buy a car.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. will have saved The saving is complete by that future point, so the future perfect fits: will have saved.
By 8 p.m., the train ___ the capital.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. will have reached By 8 p.m. marks the point after the arrival is complete: will have reached.
I ___ all the emails by the time you get back.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. will have answered The emails are complete before you get back, so use will have answered.
Will they ___ the results before Monday?
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. have announced The future perfect question needs have plus the participle: Will they have announced?
By the end of the tour, we ___ twelve cities.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. will have visited The future perfect counts the visits completed before the end of the tour: will have visited.
She hopes she ___ her driving test by May.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. will have passed By May is the deadline the passing must beat, so the future perfect fits: will have passed.
By the time the sun rises, we ___ the whole journey.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. will have completed The journey is complete before sunrise, so use will have completed.
The builders ___ the roof before winter comes.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. will have repaired The repair finishes before winter, so the future perfect is correct: will have repaired.
Drill complete
You answered every question.
Next topic: Present perfect with for and sinceTake the level test
Questions learners ask
When should I use the future perfect instead of the future continuous?
Use the future continuous for what is happening at a future moment: "At eight, I will be travelling to work." Use the future perfect for what is already complete before that moment: "By eight, I will have arrived at work." If the word by is in the sentence, the perfect is likely. If the sentence describes a scene at a time, the continuous is likely.
Can I use the present simple instead?
Sometimes the meaning is close: "By Friday, I finish the report" is unusual in standard English, but "I will finish the report by Friday" is natural. The difference is focus. The simple future says the finishing will happen. The future perfect says that at Friday the report is already done, which is useful when the deadline matters more than the action.
What is the future perfect continuous?
It is will have been plus the -ing form: "By May, I will have been working here for two years." It measures how long an activity will have continued up to a future point. The difference from the future perfect is small: "will have worked" presents the total period as a fact, and "will have been working" keeps the activity moving in the picture.
More grammar topics
Present perfect with for and since
For counts a period. Since names the starting point. Both connect the past to now.
Present perfect with just, already and yet
Just for a moment ago, already for earlier than expected, yet for the question and the negative.
Present perfect continuous
Have been plus -ing: the activity that fills the time up to now and often leaves a visible result.
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