Level: intermediate
We use will have when we are looking back from a point in time in the future:
By the end of the decade, scientists will have discovered a cure for influenza.
I will phone at six o'clock. He will have got home by then.
or looking back from the present:
Look at the time. The match will have started.
It's half past five. Dad will have finished work by now.
We use would have as the past tense form of will have:
I phoned at six o'clock. I knew he would have got home by then.
It was half past five. Dad would have finished work.
We also use would have in conditionals to talk about something that did not happen in the past:
If it had been a little warmer, we would have gone for a swim.
(but it was cold so we didn't go for a swim)
He would have been very angry if he had seen you.
(but he didn't see you so he wasn't angry)
- will have and would have 1
- will have and would have 2
Hi Peter,
Thanks so much for your reply.
I understand from your explanation that "will have" suggests more certainty in expressing the speaker's belief about an event than "would have" does.
Now, my question is can we use "would have" instead of "will have" for present and future time references ?
E.g :
[1] The party is going to start in half an hour. The guests would have been arriving by now - (present time reference)
Meaning : I believe [less certainty than using will have] the guests have been arriving so far.
Is it grammatically correct to use would have for present time ?
[2] The world-class concert is going to start at 7 o'clock tomorrow evening. People would have been queueing for the tickets all morning tomorrow - (future time reference)
Meaning : I believe [less certainty than using will have] the queue will be happening all morning tomorrow.
Is it grammatically correct to use would have for future time ?
I would be grateful if you would explain to me in more detail to clear up my confusion.
Best regards,
Hi melvinthio,
Would have been arriving suggests a counter-factual example. In other words, it suggests that the party did not take place but that if it had then the guests would have been arriving. Also, the 'by' suggests completion before a certain point, so a verb like 'start' would be better: the guests would have started arriving by now. If the party is taking place then will have started arriving is the correct form.
Again, will is needed here if the concert is going ahead. Would suggests an unreal situation.
Thus, in answer to your question, it is possible to use would have in this way, but for situations which are unreal, impossible or unlikely.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Peter,
Thank you very much for your explanation.
I understand that "would" and "would have" may lead to the interpretations of "counterfactual situations" and "probability" depending on the context. What I'm still not clear is the usage of "would" and "would have" in the sense of probability which I'm asking you now.
Are the sentences below grammatically correct in the sense of probability / certainly ?
[1] Don't call him now. He would be sleeping. -- I'm using would instead of will to suggest less certainty than will.
[2] It's 5 o'clock now. John would have left his office -- (present reference). I'm using would have instead of will have to suggest less certainty than will have.
[3] By the time you meet him tomorrow, he would have been waiting for some time. -- (future reference) I'm using would have instead of will have to suggest less certainty than will have.
I'd highly appreciate your detailed explanation.
Best regards,
Hi melvinthio,
As far as I know, 'would' cannot be used as it is in your three example sentences. I certainly would never use 'would' or 'would have' in these sentences and if a student of mine wrote them, I would mark them as wrong.
'will' is correct in 1 and 'will have' is correct in 2 and 3. In all cases, these forms indicate that the writer or speaker regards them as conjectural statements, i.e. they believe what they are saying is true but they don't have solid evidence for it.
Hope this helps.
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Hi Kirk,
Thanks so much for your clear and firm reply.
My grammar book cites the following example and gloss :
He would be about sixty (= is probably - would introduces a rather vague element of diffidence, etc than using will).
Based on the above, I cited the sentence "Don't call him now. He would be sleeping", but you said the use of would is wrong and should be replaced with will instead.
[1] Just like what is glossed in my grammar book, can't we interprete would in "He would be sleeping" (= is probably) as having the same meaning as using will - "He will be sleeping" ?
Please explain to me why you found my sentence wrong.
After a break time for commercials, a TV presenter continued broadcasting the news by saying :
"If you were watching earlier before the commercial break, you would have heard me talk about the solution."
[2] Did he use would have correctly in the sense of probability or conjecture ?
I'd be grateful for your detailed explanation to clear up my confusion.
Best regards,
Hello melvinthio,
Re: 1, I'm afraid I can't represent all grammar experts. According to my knowledge (and please note my knowledge is not on the level of authors of grammars published by reputable publishers), I find this use of 'would' odd at best and perhaps incorrect. Since I would not use the form this way myself, I would discourage my students from using it. But there may be people who do use this form and are correct in doing so. In any case, I'm afraid I don't have the resources to investigate this matter any further.
Re: 2, I think that is acceptable use. But if it were me, I'd probably choose a simple form such as 'you heard me talk'.
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
"Whenever my mother wasn’t free to drive me into Manhattan for auditions, I would take the train from suburban New Jersey and meet my father — who would have left his desk at the law office where he worked — and we would meet under the Upper Platform Arrivals and Departures sign in Penn Station"
I don't understand the meaning of "would have left his desk". Does it mean he already left his desk when she arrived the office?
Hi Giang Phan,
Yes, right! "Would have" shows that this action ("left his desk") was already completed before the "would" action ("meet my father").
Note that they met in Penn Station, not at his office.
I hope that helps.
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
Thank Jonathan for your explanation!
Giang
Hello, I've got questions about grammar reference example. There is a sentence in the last item :
'Maybe Donald isn't coming to work today.' – 'No, he ___ phoned to let us know.'
The questions are :
- why 'would have' is the right answer here ? (I thought 'will have' would be here as a 'looking back from the present' situation) ;
- why is it considered as 'Something that did not happen in the past' ?
Thanks very much in advance
Best Regards,
Dmitry
Hi Dmitry,
It's because in reality, Donald did not phone them. "Would have" shows that this past action of phoning us did not actually happen, i.e. it's an unreal past. This meaning may be clearer if we rewrite the sentence as a conditional: If he wasn't coming to work today, he would have phoned us to let us know (so therefore, we assume that Donald actually is coming to work today).
"Will have", in comparison, gives the idea that something DID happen (rather than did not happen), which is not the case with phoning in this example.
I hope that helps to understand it.
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
Hi Jonathan, thank you so much for the clearest clarification !
Cheers !
Dmitry
As india urbanises and land value and building value bexome increasingly expensive, it would be inevitable for buildings to be used for purposes other than mandated. Why has would be been used here
Hello vimal meghwal,
I agree that 'would' is not a logical choice here.
Instead, I'd recommend 'will be' or changing the second clause to something like 'buildings are bound to be used ...'
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Dear Jonathan,
Merry Christmas and happy new year 2024 to The Learn English Team.
I saw this sentence in my grammar book :
"The guests would have been arriving by now".
[1] Does it mean that the guests' arrivals are still going on now (with each guest coming one after the other), or all the guests have already arrived now (action recently finished)?
I saw from Youglish the following:
" It would have had to have been done a month ago".
[2] Does "would have" here also mean "confident prediction" just like the sentence in point 1 above ?
I'd appreciate your detailed explanations to my above questions.
Best regards,
Hello melvinthio,
In your first example the speaker is saying (speculating) that the arrivals are in progress. They have begun but not finished. If the arrivals were complete then the form would be 'would have arrived'.
In your second example the speaker is making a confident prediction (speculating) about what was necessary in the past for the present to have come to pass. In other words, the thing must have been done because otherwise things would be different now.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Peter, thank you for your reply.
My first quoted sentence was :
The guests would have been arriving by now.
You explained to me that the speaker is speculating that the arrivals are still in progress, they have begun but not finished.
[1] Is there any difference in meaning if we replace "would have" with "will have" in the above sentence ?
[2] Can we use "would have" instead of "will have" for future time ?
E.g : People will have (would have ?) been queuing in a long line to get the concert tickets all morning tomorrow.
My second quoted sentence was :
It would have had to have been done a month ago.
[3] What does "would have" mean in the sentence ? Does it refer to the 3rd conditional or indicates a strong belief (=I'm sure) that it must have been done a month ago ?
I'd highly appreciate your detailed explanations to clear up my confusion.
Best regards,
Hi melvinthio,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi, I would like to form questions with "will have", and "would have".
- Will you have finished dinner by 10? (Pretty straightforward)
- Would you have finished your homework by 10? ( Have doubts)
Is the second statement considered more polite in relation to the first? What is the difference? Thanks.
Hi Howard Manzi,
Yes, right. The "will you have" question sounds like a simple factual inquiry. The "would you have" question is less direct, which could reflect more doubt or more politeness, as you mentioned.
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team