29Future Perfect Usage: Indicates an action in the future that occurs before a second action or event in
the future.
- She will have bought a dress by the time she gets married.
- I will have arrived at school by 9 am.
- They will have cleaned enough houses to buy a car before their in-laws come to town.
Words that indicate time, such as before and by the time,
are clues that the future perfect is needed.
Let’s pick apart the following sentence:
She will have found an apartment by the time she moves.
First notice the “will have found” - we have a future perfect verb.
Future perfect must have two actions in the sentence (or a future action and a future event), so ask: does the
sentence have two future actions? Yes – “will have found” and “moves.”
Now ask, does one action happen before the other? Yes – she is finding the apartment BY THE TIME
(meaning BEFORE) she moves.
The action that happens first in time belongs with the “will have.”
- She is going to find an apartment first so it should be “will have found.”
- The action that happens second (moves) is always conjugated in the simple present.
Let’s see how the future perfect works with a future action linked to a future event:
By August 15th, I will have finished the summer program.
The event (August 15th) contains an implied action: By (the time the date becomes) August 15th, I will have
finished the summer program.