Future perfect in Spanish: Complete guide to ‘futuro perfecto’

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The future perfect tense in Spanish (futuro perfecto) is used to describe actions that will have been completed before a specific future moment or to make assumptions about the past.

It’s formed with the future of “haber” + past participle (e.g., habré comido → “I will have eaten”).

While less common in daily speech, it’s useful for formal writing and adds precision to your Spanish.

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If you’re looking to learn how to use the future perfect tense in Spanish (futuro perfecto), chances are you’re already quite advanced in your studies. ¡Felicidades! 

When learning Spanish online you’ll find that tenses shape almost everything we say. They help us express what has happened, is happening or will (or might!) happen. At first, studying grammar may seem overwhelming, but putting in the effort to master it is crucial if we want to  talk with confidence about our childhood holidays, hobbies or plans for the upcoming summer, for example.

So, let’s dive in and learn all about an unsung hero that will have us speaking like a native: the future perfect tense in Spanish. What is it? How do we form it? When should we use it? We’ve got the answers for you. ¡Vamos!

• What is the future perfect tense in Spanish?
• How to form the future perfect in Spanish?
• When do we use the future perfect in Spanish?
• Practice examples
• FAQs

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What is the future perfect tense in Spanish?

We use the future perfect tense in Spanish to talk about an event or action that hasn’t happened yet, but will be completed before another action or a point in time in the future. We can also use it to make a supposition about a past event.

Here are some example sentences:

• Para esta hora mañana, ya habré tenido noticias de Marina.

By this time tomorrow, I will have had news of Marina.

• Probablemente mis tías ya habrán cenado cuando regresemos.

My aunts will probably have had dinner by the time we’re back.

• Sonia no llegó a la cita… se habrá confundido de lugar.
  Sonia didn’t show up to the appointment. Maybe she mixed up the place (she will have mixed up the place).

Is the future perfect one of the most common Spanish tenses? To be fair, it’s more common to use the simple future tense in Spanish (or the ir a construction), but native speakers recognize and use it often in formal or written contexts.

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How to form the future perfect in Spanish?

The Spanish future perfect is formed by combining the simple future of the verb haber (to have) with the past participle of the main verb:

Haber in simple future + main verb in past participle

We should remember that there’s a difference between haber vs. tener in Spanish. While both mean ‘to have’ in English, only the first can be used as an auxiliary verb in perfect tenses. 

Now, let’s break this tense down!

Conjugating ‘haber’ in simple future

Here’s a conjugation table for the simple future of haber:

Person	Simple future of haber	English
yo	habré	I will have
tú	habrás	you will have
él/ella/usted	habrá	he/she/you (formal) will have
nosotros/as	habremos	we will have
*vosotros/as	habréis	you (plural) will have
ellos/ellas/ustedes	habrán	they/you (plural) will have

*Only used in Spain

Note: The simple future forms of haber are irregular since the stem changes to habr-. Afterwards, we simply add the appropriate future ending (-é, -ás, -á, etc.).

Forming the past participle

To form the past participle of a regular verb, we drop the ending of the infinitive (-ar, -er, -ir) and add:

• -ado: -ar verbs (caminar → camin → caminado)
• -ido:  -er, -ir verbs (comer → com → comido, vivir → viv → vivido)

Some Spanish verbs have an irregular past participle form. Here are some of the most common ones:

• abrir → abierto
• decir → dicho
• escribir → escrito
• hacer → hecho
• morir → muerto
• ver → visto

Note: If the stem of an -er or -ir verb ends in a vowel (le-er, o-ír), then its past participle ending is written with an accent on the ‘i’ (leído, oído).

When do we use the future perfect in Spanish?

We can use the future perfect tense in Spanish to:

• Talk about an action that will be completed by a certain point in the future
• Make assumptions about the past

Let’s take a closer look.

Completed action before a future point

To express that an event or action will be completed by some time in the future, we can use these time markers:

• Para… el martes, febrero, el siguiente año

By… Tuesday, February, next year

• Cuando… te vayas, me gradúe, llames
  When… you leave, I graduate, you call
• Dentro de… unos días, dos semanas
  In… a few days, two weeks

Here a couple of examples of this usage:

• Cuando tú apenas llegues a la fiesta, yo ya habré estado durmiendo por horas
  When you arrive to the party, I will have been sleeping for hours
• Dentro de unas semanas Sarah ya habrá corrido el maratón
  In a few weeks Sarah will have already run the marathon 

Think of it like this: You’re standing in the future, looking back at what will already be finished.

Speculation or assumption about the past

If we’d like to speculate about an event that already happened:

• ¿Por qué no llega Laura? ¿Se habrá perdido?
  Why hasn’t Laura arrived? Will she have gotten lost?
• ¿Se habrá acabado el pan?
  Will the bread have run out?

Future perfect vs. simple future in Spanish

The future perfect expresses an action that will have been completed before a specific point in time. On the other hand, the simple future indicates that an action is expected to occur, without emphasizing completion by a deadline.

Here’s the difference in action:

• Sarah correrá el maratón dentro de unas semanas.
  → Sarah will run the marathon in a few weeks.
  
• Sarah habrá corrido el maratón dentro de unas semanas.
  → Sarah will have run the marathon in a few weeks.

You wouldn’t use the future perfect for regular future plans. It’s only for things/events that will be finished before another future moment.

Practice examples

Now, let’s practice by filling in the blanks in these sentences with the future perfect of the verbs in brackets:

1. Para la siguiente semana, tu hermana ya se  __________ (casar)
2. Tienes una llamada perdida, ¿te __________ la doctora? (llamar)
3. Cuando termines tus deberes, ya __________ los míos también (terminar)
4. ¿__________ un mal sueño y por eso estás cansada? (tener)

Answers: 1. habrá casado; 2. habrá llamado; 3. habré terminado; 4. Habrás tenido

When should I use the future perfect tense in Spanish vs. the simple future?

The future perfect refers to an event that will take place before another or a supposition about a past event. In contrast, the simple future expresses actions that will occur without focusing on a deadline, and it can also be used to make an assumption about a current event (¿El bebé tendrá hambre? / Is the baby hungry?).

Does Spanish use future perfect often in speech or only in formal writing?

The future perfect tense in Spanish is mostly used in formal writing, but can also be expected in speech.

Perfectly simple

Now we know how to use and form the future perfect tense in Spanish! It’s quite simple: we combine the simple future of haber (to have) with the past participle of our main verb. This tense will allow us to talk about actions that will have been completed by a certain point in time, as well as to make assumptions about a past event.

While it might not be one of the most common tense forms, learning the future perfect will help us reap all the benefits of learning Spanish as a second language. Join us at Lingoda and learn it from the experts!

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