The future perfect tense is a key grammatical structure that can significantly enhance your IELTS writing and speaking performance. While not as common as other future tenses, mastering its use demonstrates a strong command of English grammar, allowing you to express complex temporal relationships with clarity and precision. This article will delve into the intricacies of the future perfect tense, equipping you with the knowledge and skills to wield it effectively in your IELTS exam.
Understanding the Future Perfect Tense
The future perfect tense describes an action that will be completed before a specific time or event in the future. Think of it as a way of looking into the future and talking about something that will have already happened by a certain point.
For example:
- By this time next year, I will have graduated from university.
- By the time you arrive, we will have finished dinner.
In the first example, “will have graduated” shows an action completed before the future time “this time next year.” Similarly, the second example highlights “will have finished” as an action completed before the future event “you arrive.”
Now, let’s explore how this tense frequently appears in various sections of the IELTS exam:
IELTS Speaking: You might use the future perfect tense when discussing your future plans or making predictions.
IELTS Writing Task 1 (Academic): Describing future trends or changes over time may require the use of the future perfect tense.
IELTS Writing Task 2: When presenting arguments about the future consequences of current trends or actions, the future perfect tense can be highly effective.
Mastering the Structure and Usage
The future perfect tense follows a specific structure that is crucial to understand:
“will + have + past participle”
Let’s break down this formula:
- “Will”: This modal verb indicates the future tense.
- “Have”: This auxiliary verb helps form the perfect aspect.
- “Past participle”: This is the past participle form of the main verb (e.g., “finished,” “completed,” “gone”).
future-perfect-tense-timeline|Future Perfect Tense Timeline|A timeline illustrating the future perfect tense with a start point leading to an event in the future. Before this event, another action is marked as completed.
Here’s how you can apply this structure in different sections of the IELTS:
Speaking
- Examiner: Where do you see yourself in five years?
- You: Well, in five years, I will have completed my Master’s degree and will have gained some valuable work experience.
In this scenario, you are using the future perfect tense to describe your anticipated accomplishments by a specific point in the future (five years).
Writing Task 1 (Academic)
- The graph illustrates the projected growth of online shopping between 2020 and 2030. By 2025, online sales are predicted to have doubled, and by 2030, they will have surpassed all other forms of retail.
Here, the future perfect tense (“will have doubled”, “will have surpassed”) effectively describes the anticipated changes in online sales figures by specific points in the future (2025 and 2030).
Writing Task 2
- Some argue that renewable energy sources cannot effectively replace fossil fuels in the near future. However, I believe that by the time fossil fuels become completely depleted, we will have developed more efficient and affordable alternatives.
In this example, the future perfect tense (“will have developed”) is used to project a future accomplishment (developing renewable energy alternatives) that will occur before another future event (fossil fuels becoming depleted).
Achieving Band 7+ Proficiency
To truly impress the examiners and achieve a higher band score, consider these strategies:
- Combine with time expressions: Using time expressions like “by the time,” “before,” “in the next few years,” or “by the end of” adds more context and precision to your sentences.
- Use in complex sentences: Demonstrate your grammatical range by incorporating the future perfect tense into more complex sentence structures, such as conditional sentences or sentences with multiple clauses.
- Emphasize completion: Remember, the key idea of the future perfect tense is the completion of an action before a specific future time. Make sure this emphasis is clear in your writing and speaking.
For example:
- By the time the government implements stricter environmental regulations, many species will have already faced extinction. (This sentence effectively uses the future perfect to highlight the unfortunate completion of an action before a future event.)
Common Errors to Avoid
While the future perfect tense is powerful, it’s also prone to certain errors. Pay close attention to these common pitfalls:
- Incorrect use of the present perfect tense: Students often confuse the present perfect and future perfect. Remember, the future perfect tense always includes “will have.”
- Incorrect: By next year, I have finished my studies.
- Correct: By next year, I will have finished my studies.
- Missing “have”: Forgetting the auxiliary verb “have” is another frequent mistake.
- Incorrect: By the time I am thirty, I will travelled the world.
- Correct: By the time I am thirty, I will have travelled the world.
Conclusion
Mastering the future perfect tense is a significant step towards achieving your desired IELTS band score. It allows you to express complex time relationships, demonstrating a strong command of English grammar to the examiners. By understanding its structure, practicing its use in various contexts, and familiarizing yourself with common errors, you can confidently incorporate this tense into your writing and speaking, boosting your overall performance in the IELTS exam.
