- Before night fell, I had finished the book.
- When Blake had spoken, Allen rose to reply.
3. The future perfect tense denotes that the action will be completed at some point in future time. It is formed by prefixing the future tense of have (shall have, etc.) to the past participle.
Before I hear from you again, I shall have landed at Naples.
The future perfect tense is rare except in very formal writing.
243. The forms of the past participle will be studied in [§ 334]. Meanwhile, the following practical rule will serve every purpose:—
The past participle is that verb-form which is used after I have.
Examples:
- [I have] mended,
- tried,
- swept,
- bought,
- broken,
- forgotten,
- found,
- sunk,
- dug.
244. A verb-phrase made by prefixing having to the past participle is called the perfect participle.
Having reached my destination, I stopped.