Learning English

Michal's journey

Susan has written about her friend Michal. Read what she has written and answer this question:

Why doesn't she know where Michal is?

"Michal is a traveller, not a tourist. He loves exploring new places and getting to know the locals. By the time he gets back in three months' time he will have been away for nearly a year. He doesn't really do social media: he prefers old-fashioned postcards and letters and what he calls 'proper' photographs. He's terrible at keeping in touch, so I don't know where he is at the moment, but he did let me know his travel plans before he left and he usually sticks to them. By now he'll have visited at least a dozen countries. He'll have crossed deserts and mountains and if he is following his schedule he'll have flown into Borneo last week."

She doesn't know where Michal is because he is "terrible at keeping in touch." He also "doesn't really do social media."

To do

Let's take a closer look at the tenses Susan used. Read the passage again, and find all the examples of the future perfect.

متن را بخوانید و تمرین را کامل کنید

Future for the past?

There are four examples of the future perfect in the passage:

• ...in three months' time he will have been away for nearly a year.
• By now he'll have visited at least a dozen countries.
• He'll have crossed deserts and mountains...
• ...he'll have flown into Borneo last week.

How many of these examples of the future perfect refer to future time? Only one:

• ...in three months' time he will have been away for nearly a year.

We know this is about a future time because of the time phrase: in three months' time.

In the other examples the time expressions refer to the present and past:

• By now he'll have visited at least a dozen countries.
  This refers to present time.
  
  
• ...he'll have flown into Borneo lastweek.
  This refers to past time.

So, using the future perfect does not always mean we are talking about future time. We also use it to make a good guess about an activity we assume, but don't know for sure, happened in the past, at or before a particular time. We can make a good guess about it because we know the people and/or their plans.

Susan doesn't know for sure where Michal is, because he is terrible at keeping in touch. But she does know that he usually sticks to his travel plans - and she knows those plans. With that knowledge, she can make a good guess about what he will have done and where he will have gone even it is in the past. 

To do

Decide whether the sentences are correct or not.

Next

Now it's time to listen to 6 Minute Grammar. Finn and Callum talk more about the future perfect. Enjoy!