Linguist Forum

Specializations => Morphosyntax => Topic started by: Natalia on August 24, 2015, 09:27:54 AM

Title: future simple vs. future perfect
Post by: Natalia on August 24, 2015, 09:27:54 AM

In one of the English grammar books, there is a following example with the future perfect tense:
I hope they will have repaired the road by the time we come back here next winter.
I wonder if I could use the future simple here instead of the future perfect to express the same idea?
e.g. I hope they will repair the road by the time we come back here next winter.

Title: Re: future simple vs. future perfect
Post by: Daniel on August 24, 2015, 10:47:49 AM

Note: the phrase is always "the following", never "a following".

Yes, either form works. The simple future is more common, but the "will have" perfect future is a little more precise and therefore more emphatic regarding the endpoint.