Future Perfect Passive

Future Perfect Passive is used to talk about actions or events that will be finished by a certain moment in the future. When we use this tense we are projecting ourselves forward into the future and looking back at an action that will be completed some time later than now. Passive voice means that the subject of the sentence is acted upon.

  • This report will have been written by the 1st of November. 
  • The project will have been finished by next month. 

The Future Perfect Passive is not very common in English because it is seldom required by the situation. Besides, it’s better to use active voice in speech and writing. But when it is used, it’s usually followed by a time expression, often with the word ‘by’.

  • Don’t worry, all work will have been done by 4 p.m.
  • We are late. By the time we arrive to the stadium, the game will have been finished.
  • All guests will have been brought to the event before it starts.

The Future Perfect Passive structure

To make statements with the Future Perfect Passive, use:

will have been + Past Participle form of the verb

SingularPlural
I will have been taken
You will have been taken
He/she/it will have been taken
We will have been taken
You will have been taken
They will have been taken

It doesn’t matter if the subject of your sentence is singular or plural. The structure doesn’t change.

  • Could you please return in 10 minutes? Your room will have been cleaned by then.
  • The buildings will have been renovated by 2021.

When to use Future Perfect Passive

The Future Perfect tense is only suitable for actions that will be completed before a specified point in the future. Therefore, the action you’re talking about must have a deadline. If there’s no deadline, we should use Future Simple Passive instead of Future Perfect Passive.

Compare:

  • We will have been given our school certificates by then.
  • We will be given our school certificates tomorrow.

We use Future Perfect Passive with the same meaning as Future Perfect in the active voice except for the fact that Future Perfect Passive makes focus on the effect (or the object) rather than the doer (the subject) of an action. Read more about the uses of Future Perfect here.

Negative forms of Future Perfect Passive

Making a negative Future Perfect Passive structure is easy. Just insert ‘not‘ between ‘will’ and ‘have’ (you can also use ‘won’t’ instead of ‘will not’).

  • I took my car in for service, but I think it won’t have been fixed even by Friday.
  • This initiative won’t have been attempted by them before 2022.

Questions in Future Perfect Passive

The structure for asking questions in Future Perfect Passive is:

will + [subject] + have been + Past Participle

  • Will my workplace have been prepared when I come to the office tomorrow morning?
  • Will lunch have been eaten by the time we arrive?

In this video, you’ll learn what Future Perfect is and how to use it in passive voice:

See also:

Future Perfect Tense

Present Perfect Passive

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