The Future Perfect Tense (#1)

The English future perfect tense can be understood as a combination of future time and the present perfect tense: it shows an action or event that started in the past, is starting or will start in the future and that will also be completed at some future time. The form of the future perfect tense has these parts: will + have + the past participle (third form of the verb) Examples: will have finished something will have lived here will have known each other will have left will have owned something will have been The future perfect tense is used as was outlined above: the action or event started before now, is starting now, or will start after now, but it will not be completed until some point in the future. Examples: In December, 2001 Dave's ESL Cafe will have been online for six years. (It hasn't yet been online for six years.) I hope that I will have finished this Hint by 9:30 PM. (It isn't finished yet). At 2:30 tomorrow afternoon, I will have finished my third class. (My classes won't

begin until tomorrow morning and they won't finish until tomorrow at 2:30 PM.) In about five minutes, I will have thought of at least five example sentences. (I'm thinking of example sentences now, but I still don't have five of them.) In June, 2001, my niece will have been married for two years. (She got married in June, 1999. Her two-year anniversary won't be until June, 2001.) It's 8:45 PM now. By 9:30 PM, I hope that I will have sent this Hint to Dave Sperling. (I haven't sent it yet.) ________________________________________________ Special Notes: 1. The form of the future perfect combines the forms of the future with will and the present perfect: will (or any modal verb) + simple form have / has + past participle will + simple form ( = have) + past participle

Because the first part of a future perfect verb is a one-word modal auxiliary, the second part is the simple (base) form of have: S-forms, past forms, and -ing forms cannot be used. Because the last two parts are like the present perfect in form, the third part is always the past participle. 2. The main verb (the past participle) shows the end point of the action or event. In the first

example sentence above, "be online for six years" will finish in December, 2001. In the last example sentence above, I hope that "send this Hint" will be finished at 9:30 PM.

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Next: another use of the future perfect tense

The PRESENT TENSE uses the verb's base form (write, work), or, for third-person singular subjects, the base form plus an -s ending (he writes, she works).

The PRESENT TENSE indicates that an action is present, now, relative to the speaker or writer. Generally, it is used to describe actions that are factual or habitual -- things that occur in the present but that are not necessarily happening right now: "It rains a lot in Portland" is a kind of timeless statement. Compare that to the present progressive -- "It is raining in Portland" -- which means that something is, in fact, going on right now. "I use my bike to get around town." is in the present, but I'm not actually on my bike right now. An instantaneous sense of the present can be conveyed with either the simple present or the progressive: "Watch him now: he holds [is holding] down the control key at the same time that he presses [is pressing] the letter d." The present tense is used to describe events that are scheduled (by nature or by people): "High tide is at 3:15 p.m. The Super Bowl starts at 6:15 p.m." The present tense can be used to suggest the past with what is sometimes called the fictional (or historic) present: "We were watching the back door when, all of a sudden, in walks Dierdre." With verbs of communicating, the present tense can also suggest a past action: "Dierdre tells me that she took her brother to the dentist." Most oddly, the present tense can convey a sense of the future, especially with verbs such as arrive, come, and leave that suggest a kind of plan or schedule: "The train from Boston arrives this afternoon at two o'clock." The present tense is used to describe events that are scheduled (by nature or by people): "High tide is at 3:15 p.m. The Super Bowl starts at 6:15 p.m." The present tense can be used to suggest the past with what is sometimes called the fictional (or historic) present: "We were watching the back door when, all of a sudden, in walks Dierdre." With verbs of communicating, the present tense can also suggest a past action: "Dierdre tells me that she took her brother to the dentist." Most oddly, the present tense can convey a sense of the future, especially with verbs such as arrive, come, and leave that suggest a kind of plan or schedule: "The train from Boston arrives this afternoon at two o'clock." Examples.. I walk to work every day. The Chicago Bulls sometimes practice in this gymnasium. Dr. Espinoza operates according to her own schedule. Coach Calhoun recruits from countries outside the U.S.A.