THE FUTURE PERECT

The future Perfect tense.

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*Read the following text and pay attention to the tenses.

Dear Lamiae,

I am writing this letter to tell you about how my life will be in the next coming months. I am now at University doing my last year at the department of English.I have got a lot of work so I will not write to you again until the end of May. By that time, I will have finished my university studies. I suppose that by the end of May, I will have obtained (got) my license in English. I started studying English in 2007, so in 5 months’ time, I will have completed my 4^th year of learning English.

Yours.

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Form: The future perfect simple is:

Subject + will (not) have + the verb in the past
participle. ….

The future perfect continuous is:

Subject + will (not) have been +Verb + ing…..

USE: We use the future perfect and the future perfect continuous for an action which:

1* Will have finished BEFORE a time in the future:

a- By the end of June, I will have taken all my exams.

b- In one month’s time all Muslims will have celebrated “Aid Aladha”

c- I will have obtained my baccalaureate before next September.

2* Will have finished before another/second action starts in the future:

a- Morocco will have built enough stadiums before

they organize the African Cup of Nations.

b- We will have finished units 2 and 3 by the time we take the second test.

c- By the end of the year 2010,I will have been studying for 12 years.

Notice that in the last example above, there is the use of the future perfect progressive.

The future perfect progressive is used when the action takes some time; when the action is a long and a continuous one.

Notice that when we use the future perfect (continuous), we don’t care about when the action starts. What is important for us is the end of the action; when the action will have finished: before a time in the future or before another action starts in the future.

Expressions used with the future perfect tense:

* before + a time in the future or another action in the future.

*I will have got a job before I get married.

*I will have got married before 2020.

*By + a time in the future or another action in the future.

*By the time I get married, I will have got a job.

*By the year 2020,I will have got married.

* In + a duration to the future: In one year… (see example 1/c above)..

*I will have got married in 10years’ time.

HEY PAY ATTENTION WITH THIS “in”—when you use it with a specific/exact time in the future ,then you must use the “future simple” because it means exactly in that date/time and not before.

Example: I will get married in 2020—- means in that year of 2020.

BUT: I will have got married in ten years’ time—-means my marriage may happen before 2020.

Examples from students:

1-I will have finished memorising Koran in one year’s time.

2- In 6 months, I will have had my bac. exam.

3-By the beginning of January, my brother will have come back from Rabat.

4- By the time I get my baccalaureat ,Iwill have been studying for 12 years.

5-By next September, I will have been learning English for four years.

Do not forget that the verb can be NEGATIVE: For an action which will not have finished before a time /another action in the future. You can say for example:

1- By the end of April, we will not have finished our English programme.But we will have covered most units.

2- Morocco will not have organized the African Cup of Nations before they build new stadiums.

EXERCISE: Put the verbs between brackets in the correct tense:

““Lionel Andrés Messi was born on 24^th June 1987.He  (be)…………….… an Argentine foot-baller who currently (play)………………… for F.C Barcelona He also holds Spanish citizenship. Messi (receive)….……………….. several Ballon D’ or by the age of 21. Messi (start)……………………. playing for Barca in 2004. By the end of 2010-2011, he (play)………….……………….. in Barca for seven years.Before he (join) ……………..Barca, he (play)…………………………….for Newell’s Old Boys’ youth team in Argentine”.

DOWNLOAD A PDF HEREthe future perfect.

LESSON PLAN ON THE FUTURE PERFECT

THE PAST PERFECT TENSE.

Grammar Lessons: The Past Perfect tense.

Read this text and pay attention to the tenses:

“I was born in the year 1976 in a remote village to the north of Oaurzazate ,Morocco. In 1986 I finished my primary school studies. I had lived during my primary education with a cousin named Lahcen. I joined University in 1996 to study English language and literature after I had taken my baccalaureate from a high school in Ouarzazte .Before 1996 I had chosen to study letters. I had been learning English for 4 years in Agadir ;then, I graduated with a bachelor of arts in the year 2000.”

*Notice that the text is in the past tense.

*Notice that there are two “different” tenses: The past simple and the past
perfect.

*DO NOT FORGET THAT BOTH TENSES ARE IN THE PAST. THERE IS A SMALL DIFFERENCE, THOUGH!

LOOK AT THIS CHART AND TRY TO UNDERSTAND THE USE OF THE PAST PERFECT.

Sentence2 from the text above:

Notic that because the verb ‘live’’ is a progressive one, we can use the ‘past perfect continuous’ .Instead of ‘’had lived’’, we can say ‘’ had been living». Both forms are correct.

The past perfect tense, therefore, is used when we want to speak about two actions in the past: one happening first and the second later. The second action  should always be in the past simple. AND THE ONE THAT HAPPENED BEFORE IT IS IN THE PAST PERFECT (PROGRESSIVE).

We prefer to use the past perfect progressive when the verb is a progressive one such as: live/work/study/watch….

PAST PERFECT : ****Form: Subject + Had + Verb in the past participle.

****Use: We use the past perfect for an action which happened before another action or before a certain time in the past.

Now look at these examples and try to figure out what I have just said about the past perfect.

1*When I arrived in the station yesterday at 9:00, the train had already left

2*I had taken many courses in English language before I got a job. *****This means, for example, that I had studied English from 1996 to 2000.And then I got a job in 2002.

3*Many Palestinians left their land after Israel had built the wall around their farms.*****This means that Israel built the wall first and then the Palestinians left their land.

4* Jasmine had emigrated before she finished her studies. *****This means for example that Jasmine emigrated in the year 1995 and she finished her studies in 1999.

5*Before the year 1946, the world had been fighting a terrible war.

6*When the students arrived in the classroom yesterday morning, the teacher had been waiting for almost 30minutes.

In these last examples (5 and 6) we have the past perfect continuous because the verbs used are progressive ones: “to fight” and “to wait”.

EXPRESSIONS USED WITH THE PAST PERFECT TENSE:

As I have highlighted in the sentences with this color, these expressions

can be used with the past perfect : *Before.*Since.*After.*for.

Download a PDF of this lesson here:The past perfect tense.

CLICK HERE FOR EXERCISES AND A LESSON PLAN

The Future Perfect

Put the verbs between brackets in the correct form:

1-They have been  working on this road for months.I hope they(repair)it by the time we come back from holidays.

2-Sarah(wash)all the windows by the time her husband comes  back from work.

3-Ali is only 30 and he is already losing his hair.He (become) bald by the age of 40.

4-We are decorating our house now.By the end of next week,we(finish)and we will be able to relax.

5-Youness speaks three languages now and he is learning German.In a few years time he (learn)four languages.

THE FUTURE PERFECT

Watch this video on the FUTURE PERFECT.