The Future Perfect Tense and The Future Perfect Progressive (Continuous) Tense

THE FUTURE PERFECT TENSE

FORM Future Perfect with "Will"
[ will have + past participle ]

EXAMPLES:

• You will have perfected your English by the time you come back from the U.S.
• Will you have perfected your English by the time you come back from the U.S.?
• You will not have perfected your English by the time you come back from the U.S.

FORM Future Perfect with "Be Going To"
[am/is/are + going to have + past participle]

EXAMPLES:

• You are going to have perfected your English by the time you come back from the U.S.
• Are you going to have perfected your English by the time you come back from the U.S.?
• You are not going to have perfected your English by the time you come back from the U.S.

The future perfect is used to refer to an action that will be completed sometime in the future before another action takes place.

Each of the highlighted verbs in the following sentences is in the future perfect tense.

• The surgeon will have operated on 6 patients before she attends a luncheon meeting.

- In this sentence, the act of operating ("will have operated") takes place in the future sometime before the act of attending ("attends").

• The plumber and his assistant will have soldered all the new joins in pipes before they leave for the next job.

- Here, the plumber's act of soldering ("will have soldered") will precede the act of leaving ("leave").

• By the time you get back from the corner store, we will have finished writing the thank you letters.

- In this sentence, the act of finishing ("will have finished") occurs well before the act of starting ("starts").

• They will have written their first exam by the time we get out of bed.

- Here, the act of getting out of bed occurs sometime after the writing of the exam.

THE FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE (CONTINUOUS) TENSE

FORM Future Perfect Continuous with "Will"
[will have been + present participle]

EXAMPLES:

• You will have been waiting for more than two hours when her plane finally arrives.
• Will you have been waiting for more than two hours when her plane finally arrives?
• You will not have been waiting for more than two hours when her plane finally arrives.

FORM Future Perfect Continuous with "Be Going To"

[am/is/are + going to have been + present participle]

EXAMPLES:

• You are going to have been waiting for more than two hours when her plane finally arrives.
• Are you going to have been waiting for more than two hours when her plane finally arrives?
• You are not going to have been waiting for more than two hours when her plane finally arrives.

The future perfect progressive tense is used to indicate a continuing action that will be completed at some specified time in the future. This tense is rarely used.

Each of the highlighted verbs in the following sentences is in the future perfect progressive tense.

• I will have been studying Greek for three years by the end of this term.

- In this sentence, the future perfect progressive is used to indicate the ongoing nature of the future act of the studying. The act of studying ("will have been studying") will occur before the upcoming end of term.

• By the time the meeting is over, the committee will have been arguing about which candidate to interview for three hours.

- Similarly in this sentence, the ongoing nature of a future act ("will have been arguing") is emphasized by the use of the future perfect progressive. The act of sustained arguing will take place before the meeting is over.

• When he returns, the wine will have been fermenting for three months.

- Here the ongoing action of fermentation will precede ("will have been fermenting") the act of returning.

EXERCISES [ THE FUTURE PERFECT TENSE AND THE FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE (CONTINUOUS) TENSE ]