The Future Perfect in the Past

is used to talk about a past action that was expected to be completed at a later time in the past.

 

 

Affirmative:

Subject + would/should + have + past participle of the main verb

 Example: I would have finished my work by 5 p.m.

 

 

Negative:

Subject + would/should + not + have + past participle of the main verb

 Example: She should not have left the party early.

 

 

Question:

Would/should + subject + have + past participle of the main verb + object/compliment?

Example: Would you have gone to the concert if I had invited you?

 

 

 

	Affirmative	Negative	Question
Subject +	Subject + would + have + past participle	Subject + would + not + have + past participle	Would + subject + have + past participle?
I	I would have eaten.	I would not have eaten.	Would I have eaten?
You	You would have eaten.	You would not have eaten	Would you have eaten?
He/She/It	He/She/It would have eaten	He/She/It would not have eaten	Would he/she/it have eaten?
We	We would have eaten	We would not have eaten	Would we have eaten?
They	They would have eaten	They would not have eaten	Would they have eaten?

 

Note: Past participle refers to the third form of the verb (e.g., eaten, written, spoken).

 

Future Perfect in the Past is used to talk about a completed action in the future from a point in the past. It is formed by using would have plus the past participle of the main verb.

 

 

 Usage:

Unfulfilled predictions:

We can use Future Perfect in the Past to talk about an action that was predicted to happen in the future but did not happen.

Example: They thought it would have rained by now, but it hasn’t.

 

Regret:

We can use Future Perfect in the Past to express regret about something that did not happen in the past.

Example: If I had known that it would have been my last chance to see him, I would have gone to visit him.

 

Unfulfilled wishes or expectations:

We can use  Future Perfect in the Past to talk about something that we had hoped or expected to happen in the future, but it did not happen.

Example: I would have been a doctor today if I had passed the exam.

 

Hypothetical situations in the past:

We can use Future Perfect in the Past to talk about hypothetical situations in the past that did not happen.

Example: If I had won the lottery, I would have travelled around the world.

 

Polite requests or offers:

We can use  Future Perfect in the Past to make polite requests or offers about something that could have happened in the past.

Example: I would have been grateful if you had helped me yesterday.

 

Note: These are just a few examples, and the usage of future perfect in the past may vary depending on the context and situation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click here The Future Perfect in the Past

Click here The Future Perfect tense

Click here The Past Perfect tense

Click here The Present Perfect tense

Click here The Indicative Mood – the Active Voice