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Unit 13: Future perfect
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  1. 1 Go beyond intermediate with our new video course
  2. 2 Reported speech in 90 seconds!
  3. 3 If or whether?
  4. 4 5 ways to use 'would'
  5. 5 Let and allow
  6. 6 Passive voice
  7. 7 Unless
  8. 8 Mixed conditionals
  9. 9 The zero article - in 90 seconds
  10. 10 The indefinite article - in 90 seconds
  11. 11 The. That's right - the! Learn all about it in 90 seconds
  12. 12 The continuous passive
  13. 13 Future perfect
  14. 14 Need + verb-ing
  15. 15 Have something done
  16. 16 Wish
  17. 17 Word stress
  18. 18 Different ways of saying 'if'
  19. 19 Passive reporting structures
  20. 20 The subjunctive
  21. 21 When and if
  22. 22 Inversion
  23. 23 Phrasal verbs
  24. 24 The future
  25. 25 Modals in the past
  26. 26 Narrative tenses
  27. 27 Phrasal verb myths
  28. 28 Conditionals review
  29. 29 Used to - review
  30. 30 Linking words of contrast

Session 1

Dan uses the future perfect to talk about specific lifetime goals and when he hopes to achieve them.

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Activity 1

BBC English Class

The future perfect

Many people have definite ambitions and plans. They have their lives and careers mapped out with timetables for achieving goals by particular ages and times. Dan is no exception. He has some very ambitious plans for his life and in this video he explains how to use the future perfect verb form to talk about them.

Watch the video and complete the activity

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Hey guys, Dan for BBC Learning English here.

In this session we’re going to be talking about the future perfect. My favourite tense of all the tenses in English, just because of the way it sounds. Listen to it:  The future perfect, it gives me goosebumps, it’s exciting.

And of course, all this will have been done in 90 seconds. Are you ready? Here we go.

So, I, like most people, have dreams and I, like most people, am getting older and I’m thinking to myself - when can I complete these dreams? How can I tick these off my list?

Well, I’m starting think about my 40th birthday, which will be in this year. I was thinking to myself - by my 40th birthday I will have walked across the Antarctic. That would be nice. By my 45th birthday I will have learned to play the piano and of course, before I die I will have travelled to the moon, which is like my lifelong dream.

Now did you hear the grammar that I used? - I will have travelled to the moon. This is called the future perfect. We use it to talk about an action which will be repeated before a future time. The formula is will plus have plus the past participle.

This can be made negative or into a question and is often combined with the preposition ‘by’. So: by the time I’m 40; by the time I get home; by the time I next see you. Other examples could be:

“John, will you have finished that report by four o’clock?”
“Sorry boss, I won’t have finished it by 4 o’clock but I will have finished it by the next day. Is that OK?”

Got it guys? Good, alright. So, I’ve been Dan, you’ve been fantastic. Just imagine, what will you have learned by next year? 

Woah, great timing! The future’s out there guys, you’ve just got to find it. 

Summary

The future perfect is formed with:

subject + will + have + past participle

It is often used with the prepostion by followed by a time clause:

  • I will have done it by tomorrow.
  • She will have become president by her 55th birthday.
  • I will have learned four languages by the time I leave university.

To do

Try the quiz to practise the future perfect.

 

Future Perfect

5 Questions

In each question choose the best option to complete each sentence.

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Session Grammar

  • Future Perfect

    will ('ll) + have ('ve) + past participle

    Used to talk about a time in the future by when a particular activity will be completed.

    I'll have finished the report by tomorrow.
    She won't have done it by the weekend.
    Will you have finished before you go home?

View full grammar reference

Session Vocabulary

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