The future perfect tense in French, similar to its use in English, describes events that will happen and be completed in the future by a certain time or after another event is completed in the future.
Conjugation
We use the auxiliary “avoir” or “être” in the future tense followed by a past participle. The auxiliary “avoir” or “être” in future tense serves a similar function to the auxiliary “will have” in English, e.g., “I will have done my homework by the time they come.”
The conjugation of the verb “avoir” in the future form is follows:
| -er ending e.g., parler | -ir ending finir | -re ending vendre | ||
| j’ | aurai | parlé | fini | vendu |
| tu | auras | |||
| il/elle/on | aura | |||
| nous | aurons | |||
| vous | aurez | |||
| ils/elles | auront |
On the other hand, the verb “être” in the future form is conjugated as follows:
| -er ending e.g., aller | -ir ending e.g., partir | -re ending e.g., descendre | ||
| je | serai | allé(e) | parti(e) | descendu(e) |
| tu | seras | allé(e) | parti(e) | descendu(e) |
| il/on | sera | allé | parti | descendu |
| elle | sera | allée | partie | descendue |
| nous | serons | allé(e)s | parti(e)s | descendu(e)s |
| vous | serez | allé(e)s | parti(e)s | descendu(e)s |
| ils | seront | allés | partis | descendus |
| elles | seront | allées | parties | descendues |
Recall from Level III, Lesson 1 that some verbs have irregular past participle forms.
Examples
Let us look at some examples of the future perfect tense in French:
| J’aurai visité l’Egypte en janvier. | I will have visited Egypt in January. |
| Tu auras bu le café. | You will have drunk the coffee. |
| Elle aura parlé à sa mère. | She will have spoken to her mother. |
| Nous aurons mangé. | We will have eaten. |
| Vous serez arrivés. | You will have arrived. |
Other lessons in Level IV:
Level IV – Intermediate
4. Expressions Using “Avoir” & “Faire”
5. Present Subjunctive Tense I
