Future Perfect Tense Examples: What They Are and How To Use Them

Do you know what the future perfect tense is? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on future perfect tenses, including its definition, usage, example sentences, and more!

Your writing, at its best

Compose bold, clear, mistake-free, writing with Grammarly's AI-powered writing assistant

What is the future perfect tense?

According to Your Dictionary, the English future perfect tense indicates a future event that has a definitive end date and comes in the “will have” form followed by a verb that usually ends in ed as a general formula. As with all verb tenses, there are regular verbs and common irregular verbs. It uses the auxiliary verb to be conjugated in the future simple. The future perfect tense can be used in the positive form or negative form. Present perfect tense expresses  began in the past and is now completed in the present. The past perfect tense expresses an action that began in the past, was completed in the past. 

There are numerous different verb tenses in the English language. These are listed below, from Exam Planning.

  •  Simple Future Tense
  •  Past Continuous Tense
  •  Past Future Continuous Tense
  •  Simple Present Tense
  •  Future Continuous Tense
  •  Past Future Tense
  •  Present Perfect Tense
  •  Future Perfect Continuous Tense
  •  Future Perfect Progressive Tense
  •  Future Perfect Tense
  •  Past Perfect Continuous Tense
  •  Present Perfect Continuous Tense
  •  Simple Past Tense
  •  Past Future Perfect Tense
  •  Past Future Perfect Continuous
  •  Present Continuous Tense
  •  Past Perfect Tense/Perfect-Past Tense

What are examples of the future perfect tense?

Take a look at these examples from Grammar Monster and Perfect English Grammar.

  •  They’ll have left Japan
  •  I will have finished this book by the deadline next month.
  •  I will not have finished this book
  •  Henry will have ran by ten o’clock tonight.
  •  Will you have married Jerome by then?
  •  The storm will have raged by the time we arrive.
  •  I will not have read every magazine in the waiting room before I see the dentist.
  •  You will have studied the English tenses
  •  They will have left Japan by midnight.
  •  They will not have left Japan.
  •  You’ll have studied the English tenses
  •  Jeff will have arrived by September.
  •  It’ll have stopped raining
  •  We will have met Julie for pizza by the time the joke is over.
  •  We will not have met Julie in the lunchroom for cookies by then.
  •  When will I have done enough work to make her happy?
  •  I hope that, when I leave this planet, I will have touched a few people in a positive way. (Actor Will Rothhaar)
  •  She will have cooked dinner
  •  I will have completed my assignment by 3 o’clock.
  •  It will have stopped raining
  •  Why will he have got married before June?
  •  We’ll have met Julie by the vase
  •  Margaret will have married Jerome by then.
  •  When will I have finished writing this book?
  •  She will not have cooked dinner before her quizzes
  •  I will not have eaten by the time her homework is done.
  •  By the time you arrive, we will have finished the meal and the speeches.
  •  Henry will not have ran by ten o’clock.
  •  Why will you have studied all the English verb tenses by tomorrow?
  •  I’ll have finished this book
  •  By the time you arrive, will we have finished the meal and the speeches?
  •  He’ll have arrived
  •  They will have painted the fence before I have a chance to speak to them.
  •  She’ll have cooked dinner
  •  John will have baked a cake before you arrive.
  •  Will I have read every magazine in the waiting room before I see the dentist?
  •  When will she have been here three weeks?
  •  After this event, Simon will have walked over 10,000 miles in those boots.
  •  When will they have left their jobs?
  •  I will have slept eight hours.
  •  You will not have studied the English tenses
  •  Will Mom have cooked our favorite meal?
  •  How will we have met your boyfriend by tonight?
  •  It will not have stopped raining
  •  The plant will have grown by then. 
  •  I will have read every magazine in the waiting room before I see the dentist.
  •  He will not have arrived
  •  Jenny will not have saved enough money yet.
  •  Why will it have got colder by May?
  •  Mom will have cooked our favorite meal.
  •  Where will the guests have gathered by the time we arrive?
  •  By the time you arrive, we will not have finished the meal and the speeches.
  •  Will the plant have grown by then?

What are other literary techniques and devices?

There are many different literary and grammatical techniques and devices that you might see when you are reading prose or poetry. It is important to recognize these terms because they are always used for some purpose. Knowing these devices can help readers understand the author’s deeper meaning and why they are using such a device. Take a look at the below list of grammatical devices from OED and see how many you know! Then try researching ones that are unfamiliar to you. 

  •   present tense
  •   non-finite
  •   optative
  •   reflexive
  •   verb (v.)
  •   verbal noun
  •   apodosis and protasis
  •   periphrasis | periphrastic
  •   passive infinitive
  •   indirect passive
  •   premodify | premodifier
  •   construed (const., constr.)
  •   complement
  •   noun (n.)
  •   direct speech
  •   to-infinitive
  •   intransitive
  •   anaphoric
  •   pronoun (pron.)
  •   special use
  •   genitive
  •   postmodify | postmodifier
  •   vocative
  •   pleonasm | pleonastic
  •   person
  •   definite article
  •   main clause
  •   collective noun
  •   similative
  •   nominative
  •   bare infinitive
  •   participial adjective
  •   declarative
  •   dative
  •   present participle
  •   neuter
  •   attributive
  •   positive
  •   personal pronoun
  •   antecedent
  •   simple
  •   prepositional object
  •   non-referential
  •   compound | compounding
  •   second person
  •   mood
  •   interrogative
  •   phrasal verb
  •   accusative
  •   protasis
  •   transitive
  •   auxiliary verb | auxiliary
  •   inflection | inflected | inflectional
  •   conjunction (conj.)
  •   proper noun | proper name
  •   head
  •   subject
  •   nominal relative | nominal relative clause
  •   locative
  •   demonstrative
  •   subjunctive
  •   indirect object
  •   prepositional passive
  •   abstract
  •   imperative (imper.)
  •   direct question
  •   singular
  •   case
  •   base form
  •   number
  •   first person
  •   possessive pronoun
  •   masculine
  •   zero
  •   participle | past participle | present participle
  •   agree | agreement
  •   modal verb | modal auxiliary verb | modal auxiliary
  •   indicative
  •   mass noun
  •   plural
  •   quasi-
  •   absolute (absol.)
  •   modify | modifier
  •   preposition (prep.)
  •   article
  •   filler
  •   part of speech
  •   tense
  •   perfect
  •   comparative
  •   conditional
  •   possessive adjective
  •   third-person
  •   construction
  •   indefinite
  •   predicative
  •   morpheme
  •   prepositional phrase
  •   copular verb | copula
  •   count noun
  •   gerund
  •   relative
  •   direct object
  •   concrete
  •   main verb
  •   causative
  •   subordinate clause
  •   prefix
  •   active
  •   double object
  •   anticipatory
  •   common noun
  •   feminine
  •   unmarked genitive
  •   subjective
  •   element
  •   combination
  •   apposition
  •   dual
  •   gender
  •   parenthetical | parenthetically
  •   pro-form
  •   objective
  •   sentence adverb |sentence adverbial
  •   interjection
  •   combining form (comb. form)
  •   adverbial | adverbially
  •   clause
  •   finite
  •   agent noun
  •   appositive
  •   possessive
  •   object | direct object | indirect object
  •   superlative
  •   determiner
  •   stem
  •   cataphoric
  •   instrumental
  •   parasynthetic
  •   that-clause
  •   infinitive
  •   cognate object
  •   phrase (phr.)
  •   past tense
  •   adverb (adv.)
  •   complementary
  •   collocation | collocate
  •   intensifier
  •   adjective
  •   noun phrase
  •   impersonal (impers.)
  •   passive
  •   progressive
  •   indirect speech
  •   indirect question
  •   ellipsis | elliptical

Overall, the future perfect tense indicates a future event that has a definitive end date.

Sources:

  1. Glossary of grammatical terms | OED 
  2. 16 Tenses in English Grammar (Formula and Examples) | Exam Planning 
  3. The Future Perfect Tense | Perfect English Grammar 
  4. Future Perfect Tense Examples | Your Dictionary 
  5. Future Perfect Tense | What Is the Future Perfect Tense? | Grammar Monster