Basics of English

1st Week

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 Future Perfect Tense
The future perfect is a verb form or construction used to describe
an event that is expected or planned to happen before a time of
reference in the future, such as will have finished in the English
sentence "I will have finished by tomorrow."

It is a grammatical combination of the future tense, or other

marking of future time, and the perfect, a grammatical aspect that
views an event as prior and completed.

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 Future Perfect Tense
In English, the future perfect construction consists of a future
construction such as the auxiliary verb will (or shall) or the going-to
future and the perfect infinitive of the main verb (which consists of
the infinitive of the auxiliary verb have and the past participle of
the main verb). This parallels the construction of the "normal"
future verb forms combining the same first components with the
plain infinitive (e.g. She will fall / She is going to fall). For example:

She will have fallen asleep by the time we get home.

I shall have gone by then.

Will you have finished when I get back?

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 Infinitive
Infinitive (abbreviated inf) is a linguistics term for certain verb
forms existing in many languages, most often used as non-finite
verbs. As with many linguistic concepts, there is not a single
definition applicable to all languages. The word is derived from Late
Latin [modus] infinitivus, a derivative of infinitus meaning
"unlimited".

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 Non-finite Verbs
A nonfinite verb is a verb that is not finite. Nonfinite verbs cannot
perform action as the root of an independent clause. Most
nonfinite verbs found in English are infinitives, participles and
gerunds. (They are sometimes called "verbals", but that term has
traditionally applied only to participles and gerunds.

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 Infinitive
In traditional descriptions of English, the infinitive is the basic
dictionary form of a verb when used non-finitely, with or without
the particle to. Thus to go is an infinitive, as is go in a sentence like
"I must go there" (but not in "I go there", where it is a finite verb).
The form without to is called the bare infinitive, and the form with
to is called the full infinitive or to-infinitive.

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 Infinitive
English has infinitive constructions that are marked
(periphrastically) for aspect: perfect, progressive (continuous), or a
combination of the two (perfect progressive). These can also be
marked for passive voice (as can the plain infinitive):
(to) eat (plain infinitive, active)
(to) be eaten (passive)
(to) have eaten (perfect active)
(to) have been eaten (perfect passive)
(to) be eating (progressive active)
(to) be being eaten (progressive passive)
(to) have been eating (perfect progressive active)
(to) have been being eaten (perfect progressive passive, not often
used)
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 Future Perfect Tense
The auxiliary is commonly contracted to 'll in speech and often in
writing, and the first part of the perfect infinitive is commonly
contracted to 've in speech: see English auxiliaries and
contractions. The negative form is made with will not or shall not;
these have their own contractions won't and shan't. Some
examples:

I'll have made the dinner by 6PM.

He won't have done (or will not have done) it by this evening.

Won't you have finished by Thursday? (or Will you not have
finished by Thursday?)
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 Future Perfect Tense
Most commonly the future perfect is used with a time marker that
indicates by when (i.e. prior to what point in time) the event is to
occur, as in the previous examples.

However it is also possible for it to be accompanied by a marker of

the retrospective time of occurrence, as in "I will have done it on
the previous Tuesday". This is in contrast to the present perfect,
which is not normally used with a marker of past time: one would
not say *"I have done it last Tuesday", since the inclusion of the
past time marker last Tuesday would entail the use of the simple
past rather than the present perfect.
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 Future Perfect Tense
The English future perfect places the action relative only to the
absolute future reference point, without specifying the location in
time relative to the present. In most cases the action will be in the
future relative to the present, but this is not necessarily the case:
for example, "If it rains tomorrow, we will have worked in vain
yesterday."

The future perfect construction with will (like other constructions

with that auxiliary) is sometimes used to refer to a confidently
assumed present situation rather than a future situation, as in "He
will have woken up by now."
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 Future Perfect Tense
The time of perspective of the English future perfect can be shifted
from the present to the past by replacing will with its past tense
form would, thus effectively creating a "past of the future of the
past" construction in which the indicated event or situation occurs
before a time that occurs after the past time of perspective:

In 1982, I knew that by 1986 I would have already gone to prison.

This construction is identical to the English conditional perfect
construction.

An obsolete term found in old grammars for the English future

perfect is the "second future tense."
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 Usage
1: We use the future perfect to say 'how long' for an action that
starts before and continues up to another action or time in the
future. Usually we need 'for'. We can also use the future perfect
continuous here so we often use the future perfect simple with
stative verbs. If we use 'when', we usually need the present simple.

When we get married, I'll have known Robert for four years.

At 4 o'clock, I'll have been in this office for 24 hours.

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 Usage
Sometimes we could also use the present perfect in the same
situation. But we like to use the future perfect to make the time an
easy number.

I've lived here for 11 months and three weeks. (This is correct, but
the time is not an easy number.)

On Tuesday, I will have lived here for one year. (A much easier
number.)

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 Usage
2: We use the future perfect with a future time word, (and often
with 'by') to talk about an action that will finish before a certain
time in the future, but we don't know exactly when.

By 10 o'clock, I will have finished my homework. (= I will finish my

homework some time before 10, but we don't know exactly when.)

By the time I'm sixty, I will have retired. (= I will retire sometime
before I'm sixty. Maybe when I'm fifty-nine, maybe when I'm fifty-
two.)

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 Future Perfect Continuous 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).

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 Future Perfect Continuous Tense
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.
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 Future Perfect Continuous Tense
Remember that non-action verbs like to be, to seem, or to know
are not suited to the future perfect continuous tense. Instead,
these verbs take the future perfect tense, which is formed with will
+ have + past participle.

On Thursday, I will have been knowing you for a week.

On Thursday, I will have known you for a week.

I will have been reading forty-five books by Christmas.

I will have read forty-five books by Christmas.

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 Future Perfect Continuous Tense
Online Exercise 1:

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Online Exercise 2:

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 References
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