The Future Perfect Tense (Le Futur Antérieur)

An Action Completed Before a Future Reference Point

The futur antérieur (future perfect) expresses an action that will have been completed before a given future moment or before another future action takes place. It is formed with the futur simple of the auxiliary avoir or être followed by the past participle of the main verb. For the formation of the futur simple, see le futur simple. For the past participles, see the relevant conjugation lessons.

Formation of the Futur Antérieur

Principal Uses

The futur antérieur is used in three main contexts.

1. Completion before a future time marker: D’ici 2030, nous aurons réduit les émissions de 40 %.
2. In temporal clauses after conjunctions such as quand, lorsque, dès que, aussitôt que, une fois que when the main clause is in the futur simple: Quand vous aurez signé le contrat, nous pourrons commencer.
3. To express probability about a past event (colloquial): Il ne répond pas ; il aura oublié notre rendez‑vous. (He must have forgotten our meeting.)

Agreement of the Past Participle

The same agreement rules as in the passé composé apply. Verbs conjugated with être agree the participle with the subject. Verbs conjugated with avoir agree the participle with a preceding direct object. For a complete treatment, see the regular avoir framework and the être framework.