Quick conversation
- What do you want to finish this week?
- What do you hope to accomplish this year?
- What skills do you want to learn?
- Do you have an important deadline this month?
80-MINUTE SPEAKING CLASS · B1–B2
A FUTURE CHECKPOINT
By this time
tomorrow
Future Perfect Simple
Choose a future moment. Look back from that point. What will already be finished?
LOOK BACK
FROM THE FUTURET+24h✓
FROM THE FUTURET+24h✓
NOWBY THIS TIME
TOMORROW
TOMORROW
Looking into the future
Talk about plans before we look at the grammar.
Choose two checkpoints
by Fridayby your next birthdayby the end of this yearby 2030by the time you’re forty
Say what you hope will be complete by each point. Try first—no grammar rules yet.
Opening questionWhat will you have accomplished by the end of this year?
Look back from a future point
Future Perfect describes an action that will be complete before a particular moment in the future.
FUTURE PERFECT = LOOKING BACKwill have + V3
NOWMonday · 9:00 a.m.
ACTION COMPLETEreport finished
FUTURE CHECKPOINTTuesday · 9:00 a.m.
✓
From Tuesday’s point of view:By this time tomorrow, I will have finished my report.
Now Earlier completed action Future deadline
Ask the key question
Complete before when?
We don’t need to know the exact finish time. We know the result will be complete no later than the future checkpoint.
Your turn · narrate the line
Describe what happens first, what is complete, and when the checkpoint arrives. Then make your own version with a real goal.
By this time tomorrow, I will have finished my report. The report finishes before Tuesday at 9:00 a.m.
Your own action and deadline can be different.
Build it. Then choose V3.
The helper is fixed: will have. The main verb is always the past participle.
SUBJECTWe
+HELPERwill have
+PAST PARTICIPLE · V3completed
+CHECKPOINTby Friday
Subject + will have + V3
We will have completed the project by Friday.
Subject + won’t have + V3
We won’t have completed it by Friday.
Will + subject + have + V3?
Will you have completed it by Friday?
Wh-word + will + subject + have + V3?
How many units will you have completed?
Regular verbs
finish → finishedcomplete → completedclean → cleanedtravel → travelled / traveled
Irregular verbs · say all three
go → went → gonewrite → wrote → writtendo → did → donechoose → chose → chosentake → took → takenknow → knew → known
Fix the verb form
Say the correct version. Explain what changed.
✕ I will have went.✕ She will have wrote the email.✕ We will have finish the project.
I will have gone. · She will have written the email. · We will have finished the project.
By, until, before, by the time
Notice whether you mean a finish deadline or an activity that keeps going.
9:00
We’ll have finished by 9:00.
The task may finish earlier. 9:00 is the latest time.
9:00
We’ll work until 9:00.
The activity continues up to 9:00.
by thenBy then, I’ll have sent the files.
beforeBefore you arrive, we’ll have finished.
by the time + present simpleBy the time you arrive, we’ll have finished.
in + durationIn two years, she’ll have completed her degree.
Choose the best time expression
- I’ll have finished the assignment ___ Friday.
- I’ll continue working ___ 6:00.
- ___ you arrive, everyone will have eaten.
- We’ll have cleaned the apartment ___ the visitors come.
- ___ two years, she’ll have completed her degree.
- The store will remain open ___ midnight.
by · until · By the time · before · In · until.
Use present simple after by the time for a future event: By the time the client arrives (not “will arrive”).
Future event, in progress, or complete?
Before choosing a tense, decide what your mental camera shows.
will + base verbPrediction, promise, decision, or future event.
will be + verb-ingAn activity happening at a future time.
will have + V3Completed before a future deadline.
Pick the camera · explain why
- This time tomorrow, I ___ (fly) to Chile.
- By tomorrow morning, I ___ (send) the documents.
- At 8:00 tonight, he ___ (study).
- By the time you wake up, I ___ (leave).
- Don’t call at 9:00. We ___ (have) dinner.
will be flying · will have sent · will be studying · will have left · will be having.
Time expressions are clues; meaning decides the tense.
Deadline practice
Say the whole sentence. Pay attention to the time clue and the form.
- By Friday, we ___ the project. (finish)
- By the time you arrive, I ___ dinner. (prepare)
- She ___ the application by noon. (not submit)
- ___ you ___ the report by Monday? (write)
- By 2030, I ___ here for ten years. (live)
- Before the guests arrive, they ___ the house. (clean)
- How many countries ___ he ___ by year-end? (visit)
- By the end of the course, all units ___. (complete · passive)
- will have finished
- will have prepared
- will not / won’t have submitted
- Will / have written
- will have lived
- will have cleaned
- will / have visited
- will have been completed
The family reunion
Read once for meaning. Then hunt for Future Perfect forms and time expressions.
NEXT SATURDAY · THE GONZÁLEZ FAMILY
More than thirty relatives are coming from different cities. By Friday evening, Elena will have bought all the food, and her brother will have prepared the garden.
On Saturday morning, their parents will start cooking. By the time the first guests arrive, they will have made three main dishes and several desserts. Elena’s cousins are decorating the house. They expect that they will have finished by noon.
Some relatives are travelling a long distance. Their flight lands at 11:00, so they will have arrived at the house by about 12:30. Elena’s uncle won’t have arrived by lunchtime because his bus doesn’t leave until noon.
By the end of the reunion, the family will have taken hundreds of photographs, shared stories and eaten far too much food. They will also have celebrated their grandparents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary.
Comprehension
- What will Elena have done by Friday evening?
- What will the parents have made before the guests arrive?
- Why won’t Elena’s uncle have arrived by lunchtime?
- What will the family have celebrated?
Grammar detective
Find in the reading:
- one negative Future Perfect
- a clause with by the time
- an until + continuing event
- two different deadlines
Elena will have bought the food. · The parents will have made three main dishes and several desserts. · His bus doesn’t leave until noon, so he won’t have arrived by lunchtime. · They will have celebrated their grandparents’ 50th anniversary.
Negative: won’t have arrived. By the time: By the time the first guests arrive. Until: doesn’t leave until noon.
Pick a plan. Brief your partner.
Choose one scenario and speak as if the deadline were real.
Project manager & developer
Santiago: Developer/team lead. Teacher: Project manager. Use the product launch tasks: fix the login bug, test payments, update docs, train support, email users, back up the database and deploy.
Will you have fixed the login bug by Friday?What will QA have tested?Will the documentation have been updated?By the time we launch, will you have backed up the database?
Mission requirements3 affirmative · 2 negative · 2 questions · by the time · before · until · 1 passive sentence
By Friday, we will have fixed the login bug and tested the payment system. We won’t have trained the entire support team yet. By the time users access the application, we will have backed up the database. The documentation will have been updated before launch. If testing takes longer, we’ll keep working until the critical bugs are fixed.
Adapt the details; this is one possible plan.
Send a message from the future
Imagine it’s December 31 next year. Look back at what you accomplished.
DEC 31
NEXT YEAR
NEXT YEAR
YOUR FUTURE CHECKPOINT
By the end of next year…
Speak for 1–2 minutes: include three personal achievements, two work or study achievements, one quantity, something you won’t have done, one duration with for, one passive sentence and one sentence with by the time.
By the end of next year, I will have…By the time…, I will have…I won’t have… yet.By then, … will have been…
Exit ticket
Make one sentence for each: deadline · by the time · quantity · duration with for · negative · question · passive.
- Future Perfect = will have + past participle (V3).
- By sets a deadline; until shows continuation.
- After future by the time, use present simple.
- Passive: will have been + past participle.
Homework · Five years from now
Write 150–180 words about your life in five years. Include 6 affirmative, 2 negative and 2 question forms; by the time, before, a duration with for, one passive sentence and 3 irregular V3 forms.
Five years from now, many things in my life will have changed. I will have completed… By that time, I will have learned…
CLASS COMPLETE
Your future checkpoint is clear.
You can now describe a completed result, a deadline and what may still be unfinished.