The French future perfect, le futur antérieur, describes an action that will already be finished before another future action or time. It can also express a guess about something that has already happened. It is less common than the future tense (le futur simple), but it is an important tense for speaking and writing accurate French.

How to form the future perfect

The future perfect is made with:

• the future tense of avoir or être
• the past participle of the main verb

The choice between avoir and être follows the same rules as the passé composé.

Verbs that use avoir

Subject	Avoir in the future	Example
je	aurai	J’aurai terminé. – “I will have finished.”
tu	auras	Tu auras compris. – “You will have understood.”
il/elle/on	aura	Elle aura changé. – “She will have changed.”
nous	aurons	Nous aurons trouvé. – “We will have found.”
vous	aurez	Vous aurez reçu. – “You will have received.”
ils/elles	auront	Ils auront vendu. – “They will have sold.”

Verbs that use être

Subject	Être in the future	Example
je	serai	Je serai arrivé. – “I will have arrived.”
tu	seras	Tu seras parti. – “You will have left.”
il/elle/on	sera	Elle sera rentrée. – “She will have returned home.”
nous	serons	Nous serons sortis. – “We will have gone out.”
vous	serez	Vous serez revenus. – “You will have come back.”
ils/elles	seront	Ils seront allés. – “They will have gone.”

Remember that verbs using être must agree in gender and number with the subject.

• Marie sera arrivée. – “Marie will have arrived.”
• Marie et Paul seront arrivés. – “Marie and Paul will have arrived.”
• Marie sera arrivée tôt. – “Marie will have arrived early.”

Reflexive verbs also use être.

• Je me serai levé avant six heures. – “I will have got up before six o’clock.”
• Elle se sera préparée rapidement. – “She will have got ready quickly.”

Main use: an action completed before another future action

This is the most common use of the future perfect. One future action is already complete before another future action happens.

The action in the future perfect happens first.

• Quand tu arriveras, j’aurai fini. – “When you arrive, I will have finished.”
• Dès que nous aurons mangé, nous partirons. – “As soon as we have eaten, we will leave.”
• Lorsqu’il aura terminé son travail, il rentrera chez lui. – “When he has finished his work, he will go home.”
• Quand vous serez prêts, nous commencerons. – “When you are ready, we will begin.”
• Après qu’ils auront signé le contrat, le projet commencera. – “After they have signed the contract, the project will begin.”

Common words introducing this pattern include:

• quand
• lorsque
• dès que
• après que
• aussitôt que

More examples:

• Quand nous serons arrivés, nous vous téléphonerons. – “When we have arrived, we will call you.”
• Dès qu’elle aura reçu votre message, elle répondra. – “As soon as she has received your message, she will reply.”
• Lorsque tu auras lu ce livre, prête-le-moi. – “When you have read this book, lend it to me.”
• Après que le train sera parti, la gare redeviendra calme. – “After the train has left, the station will become quiet again.”
• Quand ils auront économisé assez d’argent, ils achèteront une maison. – “When they have saved enough money, they will buy a house.”

Completed by a future point in time

The future perfect can also describe something that will be finished by a certain time in the future.

• J’aurai terminé avant midi. – “I will have finished before noon.”
• Nous aurons quitté Paris avant le lever du soleil. – “We will have left Paris before sunrise.”
• Ils auront construit le pont d’ici deux ans. – “They will have built the bridge within two years.”
• Elle aura écrit son livre avant ses trente ans. – “She will have written her book before she turns thirty.”
• Vous aurez reçu les résultats demain matin. – “You will have received the results tomorrow morning.”

Other common time expressions include:

• d’ici demain
• d’ici une semaine
• avant demain
• avant ce soir
• avant la fin du mois
• à cette heure-là

Examples:

• À cette heure-là, nous serons déjà arrivés. – “By that time, we will already have arrived.”
• D’ici la semaine prochaine, ils auront terminé les travaux. – “By next week, they will have finished the work.”
• Avant la fin de l’année, elle aura changé d’emploi. – “Before the end of the year, she will have changed jobs.”

Making a guess about the past

The future perfect can express probability or deduction about something that has already happened.

In English, this is often translated with “must have,” “will have,” or “probably.”

• Il aura oublié notre rendez-vous. – “He must have forgotten our appointment.”
• Elle sera déjà partie. – “She will already have left.”
• Ils auront pris le mauvais train. – “They must have taken the wrong train.”
• Vous aurez entendu la nouvelle. – “You will probably have heard the news.”
• Le facteur sera déjà passé. – “The postman will already have come.”

This use is common in both spoken and written French.

Future perfect with negative sentences

The negative surrounds the auxiliary verb.

• Je n’aurai pas fini avant demain. – “I will not have finished before tomorrow.”
• Nous ne serons pas rentrés avant minuit. – “We will not have returned home before midnight.”
• Elle n’aura pas oublié. – “She will not have forgotten.”
• Ils ne seront pas partis avant neuf heures. – “They will not have left before nine o’clock.”

Future perfect with questions

• Auras-tu terminé avant huit heures ? – “Will you have finished before eight o’clock?”
• Serez-vous rentrés avant dimanche ? – “Will you have returned before Sunday?”
• Aura-t-elle reçu mon message ? – “Will she have received my message?”
• Aurons-nous assez travaillé ? – “Will we have worked enough?”

Common mistakes

Using the future simple instead of the future perfect

French normally uses the future perfect when one future action is completed before another.

Correct:

• Quand tu arriveras, j’aurai fini. – “When you arrive, I will have finished.”

Not:

• Quand tu arriveras, je finirai.

Forgetting the correct auxiliary

Use the same auxiliary as in the passé composé.

Correct:

• Elle sera partie. – “She will have left.”

Not:

• Elle aura partie.

Forgetting agreement with être

With être, the past participle agrees with the subject.

• Elles seront arrivées. – “They will have arrived.”

Future perfect compared with the future simple

The future simple describes a future action.

• Je finirai demain. – “I will finish tomorrow.”

The future perfect describes an action that will already be complete.

• J’aurai fini avant demain midi. – “I will have finished before tomorrow at noon.”

Compare these examples:

• Ils partiront à huit heures. – “They will leave at eight o’clock.”
• Ils seront partis à huit heures. – “They will have left by eight o’clock.”
• Nous écrirons le rapport. – “We will write the report.”
• Nous aurons écrit le rapport avant la réunion. – “We will have written the report before the meeting.”

Future perfect compared with the passé composé

The passé composé refers to a completed action in the past.

• J’ai terminé. – “I finished.”
• Elle est arrivée. – “She arrived.”

The future perfect refers to a completed action seen from a point in the future.

• J’aurai terminé. – “I will have finished.”
• Elle sera arrivée. – “She will have arrived.”

Summary

The future perfect is used to describe actions that will already be complete before another future action or before a future point in time. It is also used to make a reasonable guess about something that has already happened. It is formed with the future tense of avoir or être followed by the past participle. When être is the auxiliary, the past participle agrees with the subject.