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Future Perfect Tense & Future Perfect Continous Tense

The document discusses the future perfect and future perfect continuous tenses in English. [1] The future perfect expresses actions that will be completed before some future time point. [2] It is used for completed actions before something in the future or for non-continuous durations before the future. [3] Similarly, the future perfect continuous describes actions that will continue up until a point in the future, emphasizing the duration of an activity before that time.

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Kintan Budi Kresnanda
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576 views6 pages

Future Perfect Tense & Future Perfect Continous Tense

The document discusses the future perfect and future perfect continuous tenses in English. [1] The future perfect expresses actions that will be completed before some future time point. [2] It is used for completed actions before something in the future or for non-continuous durations before the future. [3] Similarly, the future perfect continuous describes actions that will continue up until a point in the future, emphasizing the duration of an activity before that time.

Uploaded by

Kintan Budi Kresnanda
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Future Perfect Tense

The future perfect is a verb tense used for actions that will be completed before some other
point in the future.

The parade will have ended by the time Chester gets out of bed. At eight o’clock I will have
left.

The future perfect tense is for talking about an action that will be completed between now and
some point in the future. Imagine that your friend Linda asks you to take care of her cat for a
few days while she goes on a trip. She wants you to come over today at noon so she can show
you where to find the cat food and how to mash it up in the bowl just right so that Fluffy will
deign to eat it. But you’re busy this afternoon, so you ask Linda if you can come at eight
o’clock tonight instead.

The following are the use of this tense:

1. Completed Action before Something in the Future

The future perfect expresses the idea that something will occur before another action in the
future. It can also show that something will happen before a specific time in the future.

Examples:

 By next November, I will have received my promotion.


 By the time he gets home, she is going to have cleaned the entire house.
 I am not going to have finished this test by 3 o'clock.
 Will she have learned enough Chinese to communicate before she moves to Beijing?
 Sam is probably going to have completed the proposal by the time he leaves this
afternoon.
 By the time I finish this course, I will have taken ten tests.
 How many countries are you going to have visited by the time you turn 50?

Notice in the examples above that the reference points (marked in italics) are in simple
presentrather than simple future. This is because the interruptions are in time clauses, and you
cannot use future tenses in time clauses.

2. Duration before Something in the Future (Non-Continuous Verbs)


With non-continuous verbs and some non-continuous uses of mixed verbs, we use the future
perfect to show that something will continue up until another action in the future.

Examples:

 I will have been in London for six months by the time I leave.
 By Monday, Susan is going to have had my book for a week.

Although the above use of future perfect is normally limited to non-continuous verbs and non-
continuous uses of mixed verbs, the words "live," "work," "teach," and "study" are sometimes
used in this way even though they are NOT non-continuous verbs.

Future Perfect Tense Formula


Future Perfect Tense - Verbal sentence
(+) Subject + will / to be going to + have + V-3 + O + C
(-) Subject + will / to be + not + going to + have + V-3 + O + C
(Yes/No ? ) Will / (tobe) + Subject + (going to) + have + V-3 + O + C ?
(Wh- ? ) Wh. Question word + Will / (tobe) + Subject + (going to) + have +
V-3 + O + C ?

Future Perfect Tense - Nominal sentence


(+) Subject + will + have been + O + C
(-) Subject + will + not + have been + O + C
(Yes/No ? ) Will + Subject + have been +O + C?
(Wh- ? ) Wh. Question word + will + Subject + have been + O + C?

Exercise 11 - Future Perfect Tense

Use the verbs in brackets in the correct tenses (Future Continuous and Future Perfect).

1. We______ (move) into our new house soon. I'm so excited.


2. I ______ (go out) with John for two years in May.
3. ______ (you / use) the car at the weekend?
4. This time tomorrow, we'll be celebrating because we ______ (finish) our exams.
5. Don't phone her now. She ______ (have) dinner.
6. We ______ (not / work) next week. We'll be on holiday.
7. This time next month I ______ (drive) for ten years.
8. I'm afraid the books you ordered ______ (not / arrive) by Friday.
Future Perfect Progressive Tense
The future perfect continuous, also sometimes called the future perfect progressive, is a verb
tense that describes actions that will continue up until a point in the future. The future perfect
continuous consists of will + have + been + the verb’s present participle (verb root +
-ing).

When we describe an action in the future perfect continuous tense, we are projecting


ourselves forward in time and looking back at the duration of that activity. The activity will
have begun sometime in the past, present, or in the future, and is expected to continue in the
future.

In November, I will have been working at my company for three years.


At five o’clock, I will have been waiting for thirty minutes.
When I turn thirty, I will have been playing piano for twenty-one years.

The following are the use of this tense:

1. Duration before Something in the Future

We use the future perfect continuous to show that something will continue up until a
particular event or time in the future. "For five minutes," "for two weeks," and "since Friday"
are all durations which can be used with the future perfect continuous. Notice that this is
related to the present perfect continuous and the past perfect continuous; however, with future
perfect continuous, the duration stops at or before a reference point in the future.

Examples:

 They will have been talking for over an hour by the time Thomas arrives.


 She is going to have been working at that company for three years when it
finally closes.
 James will have been teaching at the university for more than a year by the time
he leaves for Asia.
 How long will you have been studying when you graduate?
 We are going to have been driving for over three days straight when we get to
Anchorage.
 A: When you finish your English course, will you have been living in New Zealand
for over a year?
B: No, I will not have been living here that long.
Notice in the examples above that the reference points (marked in italics) are in simple
present rather than simple future. This is because these future events are in time clauses, and
you cannot use future tenses in time clauses.

2. Cause of Something in the Future

Using the future perfect continuous before another action in the future is a good way to show
cause and effect.

Examples:

 Jason will be tired when he gets home because he will have been jogging for over an
hour.
 Claudia's English will be perfect when she returns to Germany because she is going to
have been studying English in the United States for over two years.

Future Continuous vs. Future Perfect Continuous

If you do not include a duration such as "for five minutes," "for two weeks" or "since Friday,"
many English speakers choose to use the future continuous rather than the future perfect
continuous. Be careful because this can change the meaning of the sentence. Future
continuous emphasizes interrupted actions, whereas future perfect continuous emphasizes a
duration of time before something in the future. Study the examples below to understand the
difference.

Examples:

 He will be tired because he will be exercising so hard.


This sentence emphasizes that he will be tired because he will be exercising at that
exact moment in the future.
 He will be tired because he will have been exercising so hard.
This sentence emphasizes that he will be tired because he will have been exercising
for a period of time. It is possible that he will still be exercising at that moment OR
that he will just have finished.
Future Perfect Continuous Tense Formula
Future Perfect Continuous tense
(+) Subject + will / to be going to + have been + V-ing + O + C
(-) Subject + will / to be + not + going to + have been + V-ing + O +
C
(Yes/No ? ) Will / (tobe) + Subject + (going to) + have been + V-ing + O + C ?
(Wh- ? ) Wh. Question word + Will / (tobe) + Subject + (going to) + have
been + V-ing + O + C ?

Exercise 12 - Future Perfect Progressive Tense


Use the verbs in brackets in the correct tenses (Future Perfect and Future Perfect
Continuous).

1. By the time we get to Chicago this evening, we (drive) ______ more than four hundred

miles. We are going to be exhausted. 

2. When Sarah goes on vacation next month, she (study) ______ German for over two years.

She should be able to communicate fairly well while she is in Austria. 

3. I have not traveled much yet; however, I (visit) ______ the Grand Canyon and San

Francisco by the time I leave the United States. 

4. By the time you finish studying the verb tense tutorial, you (master) ______ all twelve

tenses including their passive forms. 

5. Drive faster! If you don't hurry up, she (have) ______ the baby by the time we get to the

hospital. 

6. I came to England six months ago. I started my economics course three months ago. When

I return to Australia, I (study) ______ for nine months and I (be) ______ in England for

exactly one year. 


7. Margie just called and said she would be here at 8 o'clock. By the time she gets here, we

(wait) ______ for her for two hours. 

8. Frank just changed jobs again. If he keeps this up, he (change) ______ jobs at least four or

five times by the end of the year. 

9. Come over to my house around 9 o'clock. By then, I (complete) ______ my history essay

and we can go see a movie. 

10. In June, my grandmother and grandfather (be) ______ married for fifty years.

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