Spanish Grammar Guide

Future perfect (e.g.: habré hablado)

On this page: Description, Questions, Exercises

Description

An Overview of the Future Perfect

The future perfect (or preterito anterior) is used to describe a future action that precedes and is relevant for another future action, e.g.: Cuando termino, habrán llegado mis primos. ("When I finish, my cousins will have arrived.")

It tends to follow a phrase written in the present or the simple future.

How to Form the Future Perfect

The future perfect is formed by using the simple future of haber, followed by the past participle. This is illustrated in the following table:

Future perfect Translation
habré hablado
 "I will have spoken"
habras hablado "you will have spoken"
habra hablado "he, she, one, you will have spoken"
habremos hablado "we will have spoken"
habréis hablado "you will have spoken"
habran hablado "they, you will have spoken"

Questions

Questions about the Future Perfect

 Q: Why is it habrán llegado and NOT habrán llegar?

Remember, forms of haber are followed by the past participle, not the infinitive.

Exercises

Provide the future perfect for the following subjects and verbs:

Ella (ver).
Nosotros (romper).
Ellos (conocer).
Yo (aprender).
Tú (poder).

Choose between the future perfect and the past conditional:

Cuando tendré 20 años, mi padre (terminar) de trabajar.
Si tú has intenado, (hacer) menos errores.

Tags: verbs future past conditional simple future
Verb conjugation:
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