| Past | Present | Future | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | I helped my friend. | I help my friend. | I will help my friend. |
| Perfect | I had helped my friend before we ate dinner. | I have helped my friend too much this week. | I will have helped my friend too many times by the end of the month. |
| Continuous | I was helping my friend when she broke her phone. | I am helping my friend while her mom is at work. | I will be helping my friend with a project next week when she starts school. |
| Perfect-Continuous | I had been helping my friend for many years before she finally thanked me. | I have been helping my friend since we met each other many years ago. | I will have been helping my friend for a week by the time the project is finished. |
Introduction:
The future perfect tense is a verb tense used to describe actions that will be completed before a specific point in the future. It is often used to express certainty about the completion of an action by a particular time.
Formula:
- Affirmative: Subject + will have + past participle (verb3)
- Example: She will have finished her work by 5 PM.
- Negative: Subject + will not (won’t) have + past participle (verb3)
- Example: They will not have completed the project by the deadline.
- Interrogative: Will + subject + have + past participle (verb3)?
- Example: Will you have read the book by tomorrow?
Usage 1: Describing an action that will be completed before a future time point
- Description: This usage is for actions that are expected to be completed before a certain time in the future. The focus is on the action being finished.
- Example: By this time next year, I will have traveled to Japan.
- Explanation: The sentence indicates that the act of traveling to Japan will be completed before the same time next year.
Usage 2: Expressing certainty about future completion
- Description: It is used when the speaker is sure that an action will be complete at a specific point in the future.
- Example: By the end of the month, the team will have accomplished all their goals.
- Explanation: The sentence expresses certainty that the team’s goals will be achieved before the end of the month.
Usage 3: Measuring the duration of an activity up to a certain point in the future
- Description: This usage measures how long an action will have been happening before another event or time in the future.
- Example: When she retires, she will have been teaching for 30 years.
- Explanation: Here, the sentence measures the duration of her teaching career up to the point of her retirement.
Additional Examples and Explanations
- Example: The movie will already have started by the time we get to the theater.
- Explanation: This sentence shows that the action of the movie starting will be complete before the time they arrive at the theater.
- Example: She will have left by the time you arrive.
- Explanation: Indicates that she will no longer be there because she would have left before the arrival time.