The French Futur Antérieur: Formation and Uses (quand j'aurai fini…)

Getting Started

“When I have finished work, I’ll call you.” There are two future actions here, and one will be completed before the other. French marks that first action with the futur antérieur: Quand j’aurai fini, je t’appellerai.

It is the French “will have done”. The trap for English speakers is that English uses the present perfect after “when” (“when I have finished”), and French does not allow that.

It is the plus-que-parfait of the future. The plus-que-parfait looks back from a moment in the past (j’avais fini: I had finished); the futur antérieur looks back from a moment in the future (j’aurai fini: I will have finished). Same participle, and the auxiliary tells you where you stand:

So the one question is: stand at the future moment (quand je t’appellerai, d’ici vendredi) and ask will this already be done by then?

Punjabi says it the same way: jadon main kamm mukka lavanga, tainu phone karanga, and for a deadline, vechar tak main report likh chukka hovanga (by Friday I will have written the report). Chukka hovanga is the futur antérieur, word for word.

1 Formation

Future of avoir or être + past participle. It works exactly like the passé composé, with the auxiliary in the future:

Which verbs take être and when the participle agrees are the same rules as the passé composé: the DR MRS VANDERTRAMP verbs and all pronominal verbs take être.

• Pronominal: je me serai levé(e), nous nous serons inscrits
• Negation: *je **n’*aurai pas fini
• Pronoun: je l’aurai envoyé

For aurai, serai and the other future forms, see Futur Simple.

2 Use 1: one future action before another

This is the main use. After these words, when the main clause is future:

• Dès que j’aurai reçu ma carte, je vous enverrai une copie. (As soon as I’ve received my card…)
• Une fois que vous aurez rempli le formulaire, vous le déposerez au guichet. (Once you’ve filled in the form…)
• Quand les enfants seront partis, on pourra parler tranquillement. (When the children have left…)

Timeline: now → [action A completed: futur antérieur] → [action B: futur simple]

Both at once? If the two actions happen at the same time, use futur simple for both: Quand tu arriveras, je serai à la maison. If one must be finished first, it takes the futur antérieur.

Futur simple or futur antérieur? The tense changes the story:

3 Use 2: done by a point in the future

When there is a deadline and the action will be complete before it. Often with d’ici (by), avant, à + time, dans + period:

• D’ici 2027, j’aurai obtenu ma résidence permanente. (By 2027 I will have got my PR.)
• À 18 h, nous aurons terminé le déménagement. (By 6 p.m. we’ll have finished the move.)
• Dans un mois, elle sera rentrée en Inde. (In a month she will have gone back to India.)

Great for talking about goals and plans, for instance in an interview: Dans cinq ans, j’aurai acquis de l’expérience en gestion.

4 Use 3: a guess about the past

The futur antérieur can also express a guess about something that has probably already happened, like English “must have”:

• Il n’est pas encore là ? Il aura raté son bus. (He must have missed his bus.)
• Je ne trouve pas mes clés. Je les aurai laissées au bureau. (I must have left them at the office.)

It means much the same as il a dû rater son bus. In speech a dû is more common, but you need to recognise this use, or you will think the sentence is about the future.

5 In indirect speech

After a past reporting verb, the futur antérieur becomes the conditionnel passé:

• « J’aurai fini avant midi. » → Il a dit qu’il aurait fini avant midi.

The full table is in Indirect Speech.

6 après que and après avoir

By the rule, après que takes the indicative, not the subjunctive (whereas avant que takes the subjunctive):

• Après que le propriétaire aura signé le bail, vous recevrez les clés.

When both parts share the same subject, the simpler and more natural route is après + past infinitive:

• Après avoir signé le bail, vous recevrez les clés. (You sign, and you get the keys.)
• Après être arrivée, elle m’appellera.

Examples

• Lorsque tu auras lu ce document, tu comprendras mieux la procédure. (Once you’ve read this document, you’ll understand the procedure better.)
• Je t’appellerai dès que l’avion aura atterri. (I’ll call you as soon as the plane has landed.)
• D’ici la fin de l’année, nous aurons remboursé notre prêt. (By the end of the year we’ll have paid off our loan.)
• Elle ne répond pas ; elle se sera endormie. (She isn’t answering; she must have fallen asleep.)

Common Mistakes

Practice

A. Put the verb in the futur antérieur

B. Futur simple or futur antérieur?

Your Turn: Où vous voyez-vous dans cinq ans ?

“Where do you see yourself in five years?” comes up in job interviews and in TEF and TCF speaking. Answer out loud in four or five sentences, using the futur antérieur for what will be done by then and the futur simple for what you will be doing.

Model answer: Dans cinq ans, j’aurai obtenu ma résidence permanente. J’aurai terminé ma formation en comptabilité et j’aurai trouvé un poste dans un cabinet. Mes enfants auront fini l’école primaire, et ils parleront couramment français. Quand nous aurons économisé assez d’argent, nous achèterons une maison à Laval. Et j’espère que d’ici là, j’aurai atteint le niveau C1 !

Look at the split: what will be finished is in the futur antérieur (aurai obtenu, aurai terminé, auront fini, aurons économisé, aurai atteint); what will be going on or happen next is in the futur simple (parleront, achèterons).

What’s Next

• Futur Simpleaurai, serai and the other future forms.
• Passé Composépast participles and choosing avoir or être.
• Indirect Speechfutur antérieur → conditionnel passé.
• Plus-que-parfait“had already done” in the past.