Formal Arabic often uses سيكون + قد + perfect when one future event will already be complete before another future point: سيكون الفريق قد أنهى العمل بحلول الجمعة “The team will have finished the work by Friday.” Future سيكون establishes the later reference point, while قد أنهى presents the finishing as complete relative to it.
English packages both ideas into will have finished. Arabic builds them in layers. This construction is common (formal) in schedules, project plans, forecasts, and reports, but it is not compulsory whenever English uses a future perfect. A simpler future plus a deadline is often lighter and equally natural.
For the basic perfect–imperfect architecture that this construction combines, see the verb-system overview.
How the two layers work
Outer كَانَ — يَكُونُ — كَوْنًا, root ك-و-ن, is a hollow Form I verb. The future prefix attaches to its imperfect: سَيَكُونُ. Inside its predicate, قد combines with a perfect lexical verb and gives that event a completed viewpoint.
| Layer | Form | Contribution |
|---|---|---|
| future reference point | سَيَكُونُ | places the overall situation in the future |
| anterior event | قَدْ + perfect | presents the event as complete before that point |
| deadline | بِحُلُولِ / قَبْلَ / عِنْدَ | makes the ordering of the two times explicit |
سيكون الفريق قد أنهى العمل بحلول الجمعة.
sayakūnu l-farīqu qad ʾanhā l-ʿamala bi-ḥulūli l-jumuʿa(h).
The team will have finished the work by Friday.
عند وصول الضيوف، سنكون قد أعددنا العشاء.
ʿinda wuṣūli ḍ-ḍuyūfi, sanakūnu qad ʾaʿdadnā l-ʿashāʾ.
By the time the guests arrive, we will have prepared dinner.
The construction does not merely say that both events are future. It orders them: preparing dinner is complete before the guests' arrival. A deadline phrase is not grammatically required, but without a recoverable future boundary the construction can feel needlessly heavy.
Agreement operates in both clauses
يكون agrees according to its own subject and word order. The perfect after قد also carries a subject marker. With a subject first, both layers show full agreement.
الباحثتان ستكونان قد أرسلتا النسخة النهائية قبل الظهر.
al-bāḥithatāni satakūnāni qad ʾarsalatā n-nuskhata n-nihāʾiyyata qabla ẓ-ẓuhr.
The two female researchers will have sent the final version before noon.
المهندسون سيكونون قد اختبروا النظام قبل إطلاقه.
al-muhandisūna sayakūnūna qadi khtabarū n-niẓāma qabla ʾiṭlāqih.
The engineers will have tested the system before its launch.
In neutral verb-first order, a finite verb before an overt human plural is normally singular. The embedded perfect nevertheless shows plural agreement because its understood subject refers back to the now preceding noun.
سيكون الموظفون قد غادروا المبنى عند إغلاق البوابة.
sayakūnu l-muwaẓẓafūna qad ghādarū l-mabnā ʿinda ʾighlāqi l-bawwāba(h).
The employees will have left the building when the gate closes. (Verb first.)
Nonhuman plurals normally trigger feminine-singular agreement in both layers.
ستكون النتائج قد ظهرت على الموقع قبل بدء المؤتمر.
satakūnu n-natāʾiju qad ẓaharat ʿalā l-mawqiʿi qabla badʾi l-muʾtamar.
The results will have appeared on the website before the conference begins.
Mood belongs to يكون, not to the perfect
In an affirmative main clause, future سيكونُ is indicative. A governor can change the mood of يكون, but the embedded perfect has no indicative–subjunctive–jussive contrast.
لن يكون الفريق قد أنهى المراجعة قبل اجتماع الاثنين.
lan yakūna l-farīqu qad ʾanhā l-murājaʿata qabla jtimāʿi l-ithnayn.
The team will not have finished the review before Monday's meeting.
Here لن governs subjunctive يكونَ. It is wrong to retain future سـ after لن. In a jussive environment, hollow يكون shortens to يكنْ:
إن لم يكن القطار قد وصل بحلول الثامنة، فاتصل بي.
ʾin lam yakuni l-qiṭāru qad waṣala bi-ḥulūli th-thāminati, fa-ttaṣil bī.
If the train has not arrived by eight, call me.
The English translation is present perfect after if, because English normally avoids will have in this kind of conditional clause. Arabic morphology follows its own governors rather than mirroring the English tense label.
Weak and geminate verbs keep their real perfect stems
The verb after قد is perfect, so use its attested perfect paradigm. Hollow Form I قَالَ — يَقُولُ — قَوْلًا, root ق-و-ل, has قلنا with the suffix نا. Geminate Form I رَدَّ — يَرُدُّ — رَدًّا, root ر-د-د, unfolds its two final radicals before a consonant-initial suffix, as in رددتُ.
بحلول المساء، سنكون قد قلنا رأينا ورددنا على جميع الأسئلة.
bi-ḥulūli l-masāʾi, sanakūnu qad qulnā raʾyanā wa-radadnā ʿalā jamīʿi l-ʾasʾila(h).
By evening, we will have stated our opinion and answered all the questions.
ستكون سلمى قد ردت على الرسالة قبل عودتك.
satakūnu salmā qad raddat ʿalā r-risālati qabla ʿawdatik.
Salma will have replied to the message before you return.
Do not invent a regular strong form from the imperfect. Principal parts remain lexical facts even inside a compound construction.
When a lighter future is better
سيكون قد + perfect explicitly looks backward from a future boundary. That precision is useful in (formal) planning prose:
في نهاية المرحلة الأولى، ستكون اللجنة قد راجعت جميع الطلبات.
fī nihāyati l-marḥalati l-ʾūlā, satakūnu l-lajnatu qad rājaʿat jamīʿa ṭ-ṭalabāt.
By the end of the first phase, the committee will have reviewed all applications.
Everyday instructions and straightforward schedules often prefer one future verb plus قبل or بحلول:
سينتهي الفريق من الفحص قبل وصول الشحنة.
sayantahī l-farīqu mina l-faḥṣi qabla wuṣūli sh-shiḥna(h).
The team will finish the inspection before the shipment arrives.
سيكتمل تحديث النظام بحلول منتصف الليل.
sayaktamilu taḥdīthu n-niẓāmi bi-ḥulūli muntaṣafi l-layl.
The system update will be complete by midnight.
These alternatives preserve the practical deadline. They simply do not foreground the retrospective future viewpoint as strongly.
Common Mistakes
Copying English by putting an imperfect after قد
❌ سيكون الفريق قد ينهي العمل يوم الجمعة.
Incorrect for ‘will have finished’ — completion before the future boundary requires a perfect after قد.
✅ سيكون الفريق قد أنهى العمل بحلول مساء الجمعة.
sayakūnu l-farīqu qad ʾanhā l-ʿamala bi-ḥulūli masāʾi l-jumuʿa(h).
The team will have finished the work by Friday evening.
Keeping سـ after لن
❌ لن سيكون التقرير قد وصل قبل الموعد.
Incorrect — لن itself marks future negation and governs يكونَ; do not retain سـ.
✅ لن يكون التقرير قد وصل قبل الموعد المحدد.
lan yakūna t-taqrīru qad waṣala qabla l-mawʿidi l-muḥaddad.
The report will not have arrived before the specified deadline.
Losing feminine-dual agreement after a fronted subject
❌ الباحثتان ستكون قد أرسلوا النتائج.
Incorrect — a subject-first feminine dual requires ستكونان and أرسلتا.
✅ الباحثتان ستكونان قد أرسلتا النتائج قبل الاجتماع.
al-bāḥithatāni satakūnāni qad ʾarsalatā n-natāʾija qabla l-ijtimāʿ.
The two female researchers will have sent the results before the meeting.
Giving verb-first يكون full plural agreement
❌ سيكونون الموظفون قد غادروا المكتب.
Incorrect as neutral verb-first order — use singular سيكون before the overt human plural subject.
✅ سيكون الموظفون قد غادروا المكتب قبل السادسة.
sayakūnu l-muwaẓẓafūna qad ghādarū l-maktaba qabla s-sādisa(h).
The employees will have left the office before six.
Regularizing a hollow perfect before a suffix
❌ سنكون قد قالنا كل ما نعرفه.
Incorrect — hollow قال shortens to قلنا before the suffix نا.
✅ سنكون قد قلنا كل ما نعرفه قبل بدء التحقيق.
sanakūnu qad qulnā kulla mā naʿrifuhu qabla badʾi t-taḥqīq.
We will have said everything we know before the investigation begins.
Key Takeaways
- سيكون + قد + perfect presents an event as complete before a future reference point.
- A governor changes the mood of يكون; the embedded perfect has no mood contrast.
- Agreement must be checked separately in the outer and embedded clauses.
- The construction is useful in formal planning and reporting, while a simple future plus a deadline is often lighter.
- Weak and geminate verbs retain their verified perfect stems after قد.
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Start learning Arabic →Related Topics
- Future Negation with لاA2 — Use non-governing لا with an indicative imperfect when coordination, a condition, or a prediction already supplies future reference.
- كان + Imperfect versus the Simple PerfectA2 — Choose كان with an imperfect for recurring past background, and the simple perfect for a bounded event or completed series.
- The Arabic Verb SystemA1 — See how Arabic verb stems, agreement, mood, voice, and derived Forms work together in complete sentences.