The Italian futuro anteriore (future perfect or past of the future) is mainly used in the following cases:
to talk about an action that will have already finished before another action occurs in the future:
Per stasera avrò finito di guardare questa serie televisiva.Translation: By tonight I will have finished watching this tv show.to make hypotheses about the reason something happened:
Perché Marco ha portato la macchina dal meccanico? Si sarà accorto che ha un guasto.Translation: Why did Marco take the car to the mechanic? He must have noticed it’s broken down.
In this post, we’ll go through how to form and use the futuro anteriore in Italian. As you can already see, the futuro anteriore sometimes refers to the future and sometimes to the past, but it has other uses too. Just keep reading to find out!
How to form the ‘futuro anteriore’ in Italian?
The futuro anteriore is a compound tense. This means that, like all other Italian compound tenses (e.g. passato prossimo, congiuntivo trapassato, and so on), you need two words to form it. For the futuro anteriore, those two words are:
an auxiliary verb, avere meaning to have or essere meaning to be conjugated in the simple future (future semplice).
Subject pronoun Simple future of avere meaning to have or essere meaning to be io
avrò / sarò
tu
avrai / sarai
lui, lei, Lei
avrà / sarà
noi
avremo / saremo
voi
avrete / sarete
loro
avranno / saranno
the past participle of the verb, which can be regular (ending in -ato, -uto, or -ito) or irregular.
Take a look at the full conjugations of some verbs with regular past participles in the table below:
| Subject Pronoun | -are | -ere | -ire |
|---|---|---|---|
io | avrò aspettato | avrò venduto | sarò partito/a |
tu | avrai aspettato | avrai venduto | sarai partito/a |
lui, lei, Lei | avrà aspettato | avrà venduto | sarà partito/a |
noi | avremo aspettato | avremo venduto | saremo partiti/e |
voi | avrete aspettato | avrete venduto | sarete partiti/e |
loro | avranno aspettato | avranno venduto | saranno partiti/e |
For more examples, have a look at these Italian verbs conjugated in the futuro anteriore!
When to use the ‘futuro anteriore’ in Italian?
As mentioned previously, the future perfect is mainly used to express the past of the future and to make hypotheses about the past. Now, we’ll go over these uses and a couple more!
To express the past of the future
Generally, the futuro anteriore expresses an action that will be finished before or by the time another action occurs in the future. For example:
Two actions are expected to happen in the future:
Now
The futuro anteriore, as the past of the future, is useful in sentences in which the clause with the simple future expresses the following:
commitment or promise
simple future futuro anterioreTi presterò questo libro, appena lo avrò letto.Translation: I will lend you this book as soon as I have read it.deal or permission:
simple futurefuturo anterioreVi contatteremo non appena avremo chiuso questo progetto.Translation: We will contact you as soon as we have closed this project.simple futurefuturo anterioreDopo che avrai finito di studiare, potrai andare al cinema.Translation: After you are done studying, you can go to the movies.Literally: After you will have finished studying, you can go to the movies.
To tell when an action will be completed in the future
The futuro anteriore can also express an action in the future that will have been completed by an indefinite or specific time in the future. For example:
To make hypotheses about the past
The futuro anteriore is also used to make hypotheses or deductions about something that occurred in the past and had consequences either 1) on the past or 2) on the present.
Example 1:
- Ieri gli autobus non circolavano.Translation: Yesterday the buses weren't running.
- Ci sarà stato uno sciopero.Translation: There must have been a strike.
Example 2:
- Oggi Michele non è al lavoro.Translation: Michele is not at work today.
- Avrà preso un giorno di ferie.Translation: He must have taken a day off.
As you noticed from the examples above, in this case, the futuro anterioreis translated with the English “must have.”
To express doubts about the past
The futuro anteriore is also used to form direct questions when wondering whether something happened or not. For example:
To sum up
When using the futuro anteriore in Italian, keep the following tips in mind:
Forming the futuro anteriore:
The Italian futuro anteriore is a compound tense, that is, it is a combination of two words.
The first word is the simple future of either essere or avere, depending on the verb
The second word is the past participle (regular or irregular) of the verb.
Remember to review the rules of passato prossimo meaning perfect tense — they apply to all compound tenses.
Uses of the futuro anteriore:
To talk about an action that will be completed by the time another one begins; in this case, the futuro anteriore is introduced by time markers like dopo che meaning after that, (non) appena meaning as soon as, etc.
To talk about when an action is expected to be completed in the future
To make hypotheses about the something in the past; in this case, the futuro anteriore is the equivalent of the English expression “must have”
To express doubts about whether something happened or not in the past
Ready to practice the Italian futuro anteriore? 💪 🧠
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