The Future Perfect
by Sean Conner
I. Generally:
The future perfect tense in Latin is employed when the speaker wishes to
express any completed action at some future point in time:
-
scripsero- I will have written.
-
inceperint- They will have begun.
II. Notes:
-
The sense of completed action results in the Latin future perfect tense
having a greater specificity than that of the modern English future perfect
-- in the following example, note the difference in meaning of the English
future and future perfect tenses:
-
(1) Future - I will call by tomorrow night.
-
(2) Future Perfect - I will have called by tomorrow
night.
Though debatable, the fundamental meaning of each sentence is identical
to the other. Where an English speaker may, in context, use the future
tense to imply future completed aspect, the Latin speaker (writer) would
always use the future perfect tense if the action truly would be completed
in the future.
-
Note that the future perfect is dependent upon some adverbial element indicating
the future point of reference.
-
Note also that there is no subjunctive form of the future perfect.
III. Conditions:
The future perfect is commonly found in the following conditions-
-
Future More Vivid: future perfect in the protasis, future indicative
in apodosis. The future perfect will appear in the protasis if the
action of the protasis occurs prior to the action of the apodosis.
(If I will have done my best, my parents will be proud.)