The Savvy Learner’s Guide to French Future Perfect Tense
Learn about the what, when, how, where, and why of the futur antérieur or French Future Perfect Tense. A short but fun lesson for all learners.
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What is the French future perfect tense?When do you use the future perfect tense?How do you form the French future perfect tense?Where will you place the auxiliary verbs avoir or être in the French future perfect tense?Why do you need to learn about the French future perfect?Oh hello there. There’s something I want to tell you: by the time you finish reading this article, you will have familiarized yourself with the futur antérieur.
See what I did there? In case you noticed (you quick-eyed, clever little you), I just gave you a little dose of the future perfect tense.
…and you will have noticed it after going back to recheck the introduction.
…and you will have laughed at yourself when you review it once more to check what you missed.
Ha!
But let’s move on and get into the meat of the topic: the what, when, how, where, and why of the futur antérieur or the French future perfect tense.
What is the French future perfect tense?
It’s the same thing as how you use it in English: to describe or talk about an action that will have happened or will be completed in a certain time in the future.
Sounds like a bit of a contradiction, doesn’t it? Well, just a little. But you probably don’t notice it too much in your daily speech.
Here’s an example.
I will have finished my work by tomorrow. J’aurai fini mon travail d’ici demain.
See?
See also: French Future Tense: Everything You Need to Know
When do you use the future perfect tense?
Aside from the examples given above, there are other uses of the future perfect tense in French which do not correspond to the English usage. Here are two of them:
- The future perfect is used during instances when we use “must” in English. For example: Henri n’est pas ici ; il aura oublié. (Henri isn’t here; he must have forgotten.)
- When using conjunctions like quand, lorsque, aussitôt que, dès que, une fois que and après que. In English, we would simply use either a present or a past tense. For example: Nous le ferons aussitôt qu’elle sera arrivée. (We’ll do it as soon as she has arrived.)
See also: French Past Tense: Everything You Need to Know
How do you form the French future perfect tense?
Forming the future perfect is simple enough; all you have to do is use the correct future tense of the auxiliary (either avoir or être) and combine it with the past participle of the verb.
In short, it is this formula:
Future tense of the auxiliary + past participle
There’s a tricky little catch though: just like other cases of compound conjugations in French, remember that the future perfect needs to agree.
- With non-pronominal verbs that use être, the past participle agrees with the subject. Pronominal verbs also use être, but have their own agreement rules.
- When using the auxiliary verb avoir, the past participle needs to agree with a DIRECT OBJECT placed before the verb.
(Too many rules? I feel ya.)
Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it.
- Here is an example using the auxiliary verb être:
Verb: aller (to go)
- I will have gone.je serai allé(e)
- You will have gone.tu seras allé(e)
- He /She will have gone.Il/elle sera allé(e)
- We will have gone.nous serons allé(e)s
- You will have gone.vous serez allé(e)(s)
- They will have gone.Ils seront allés / elles seront allées
- Another set of examples using the auxiliary avoir.
Verb: aimer (to love)
- I will have loved.J’aurai aimé
- You will have loved.Tu auras aimé
- He/she will have loved.Il/elle aura aimé
- We will have loved.Nous aurons aimé
- You will have loved.Vous aurez aimé
- They will have loved.Ils/elles auront aimé
Where will you place the auxiliary verbs avoir or être in the French future perfect tense?
Most likely you are already familiar with this question based on previous lessons. But as a quick reminder, French verbs, when used in compound conjugations, either appear with avoir or être.
Most French verbs use avoir. The verbs below commonly use être in their intransitive movement or change-of-state uses. Some switch to avoir when they take a direct object: Elle sera sortie (She will have gone out), but Elle aura sorti les clés (She will have taken out the keys).
arriver – to arrive
descendre– to descend
entrer– to enter
rentrer– to reenter
monter– to climb
remonter – to climb again
naître – to be born
renaître – to be reborn
partir – to leave
repartir – to leave again
passer – to pass
rester – to stay
retourner – to return
sortir – to go out
resortir – to go out again
tomber– to fall
retomber – to fall again
venir – to come
devenir– to become
parvenir – to reach
revenir– to come back
Many of these être verbs describe movement or a change of state, but this is not an absolute rule: rester means “to stay.” Pronominal verbs also use être.
See also: All You Need to Know About the French Verb Être
And, finally…
Why do you need to learn about the French future perfect?
Let’s face it, it’s hard. Even more so when your heart isn’t in it. But why, why do you need to study this anyway?
Simple: you want to be a good French speaker, don’t you?
To be able to express yourself fully in French, you need to be familiar with the future perfect. If you are going to study French, then you might as well do it completely. Remember, doing things half-assed isn’t a cool way to learn.
Alright?
Okay.
P.S. You would be doing me a HUGE FAVOR by sharing it via Twitter or Facebook.
