The futuro composto do subjuntivo is the most precise tense in the whole subjunctive system. It lets a speaker say not just "when you do X" but "when you will have finished X" — pinning an action to the moment it is complete, right before some other future event. Where the simple future subjunctive (quando você terminar) leaves the timing loose, the compound (quando você tiver terminado) insists that the finishing comes first. It is rarer than the other compounds, but in the right sentence it is exactly the form a Brazilian wants.
Formation: future subjunctive of ter + past participle
The recipe is the familiar one: take ter in the future subjunctive, then add an invariable past participle.
The future subjunctive of ter is the irregular piece to memorize:
| Subject | ter (fut. subj.) |
|
|---|---|---|
| quando eu | tiver | tiver falado |
| quando tu (regional) | tiveres | tiveres falado |
| quando você / ele / ela | tiver | tiver falado |
| quando nós | tivermos | tivermos falado |
| quando vocês / eles / elas | tiverem | tiverem falado |
Note the forms carefully: tiver (1sg and 3sg, identical), tivermos (1pl, no accent — contrast the imperfect-subjunctive tivéssemos which does carry one), and tiverem (3pl). The tu form tiveres is regional. The participle is invariable: tiver falado, tiverem chegado, tivermos terminado, tiver feito.
What it means: completion before a future moment
This tense expresses anteriority within the future. There are two future moments: one event finishes, then the other happens. The futuro composto marks the first, completed one; the main clause states the second.
Quando você tiver terminado, me avise.
When you have finished, let me know.
Here the finishing comes first; the letting-know follows. The compound makes the completion explicit — you are to notify me at the point where the task is done, not while it's in progress.
Depois que todos tiverem votado, a gente divulga o resultado.
After everyone has voted, we'll release the result.
Assim que eu tiver lido o contrato, te dou uma resposta.
As soon as I've read the contract, I'll give you an answer.
Where it appears: future-time conjunctions
Like the simple future subjunctive, it lives after future-time conjunctions: quando (when), depois que (after), assim que / logo que (as soon as), enquanto não (until), sempre que (whenever). The difference is that you choose the compound when the subordinate action must be finished before the main one.
Quando vocês tiverem decidido o destino, a gente fecha as passagens.
Once you've decided on the destination, we'll book the tickets.
Logo que o banco tiver aprovado o crédito, assinamos o contrato.
As soon as the bank has approved the loan, we'll sign the contract.
Enquanto você não tiver resolvido isso, não vou conseguir dormir.
Until you've sorted that out, I won't be able to sleep.
The competitor: the simple future subjunctive
In everyday speech, the simple future subjunctive (quando você terminar) very often does the job, because context usually makes completion obvious. Brazilians reach for the compound mainly when they want to stress that one action is fully wrapped up before the next — typically in more careful, planned, or formal speech.
| Simple (timing loose) | Compound (completion stressed) |
|---|---|
| Quando você terminar, me avise. | Quando você tiver terminado, me avise. |
| Assim que eu ler o contrato… | Assim que eu tiver lido o contrato… |
| Depois que todos votarem… | Depois que todos tiverem votado… |
Rare, but necessary
This is the least-used of the compound subjunctives, but it is not optional decoration. In sentences where the sequence is the whole point — a contract signed after approval, a result released after every vote is in — only the futuro composto says it cleanly. Recognizing it is essential for reading instructions, contracts, and careful planning talk; producing it marks genuinely advanced control of the tense system. English, again, lines up: "when you have finished," "after everyone has voted," "as soon as I have read it" — the same future-perfect logic, just with the auxiliary pushed into the future subjunctive.
Common Mistakes
❌ Quando você ter terminado, me avise.
Incorrect — 'ter' is the infinitive; the future subjunctive of 'ter' is 'tiver'.
✅ Quando você tiver terminado, me avise.
When you have finished, let me know.
❌ Quando você terá terminado, me avise.
Incorrect — synthetic future indicative after 'quando'; future-time clauses take the future subjunctive.
✅ Quando você tiver terminado, me avise.
When you have finished, let me know.
❌ Depois que todos tiver votado, divulgamos o resultado.
Incorrect — subject is plural; the form must be 'tiverem'.
✅ Depois que todos tiverem votado, divulgamos o resultado.
After everyone has voted, we'll release the result.
❌ Assim que nós tivéssemos lido o contrato, respondemos.
Incorrect — 'tivéssemos' is the imperfect subjunctive (past counterfactual); for a future point use 'tivermos'.
✅ Assim que nós tivermos lido o contrato, respondemos.
As soon as we've read the contract, we'll respond.
❌ Quando você tiver terminados os exercícios, me chame.
Incorrect — the participle never agrees in this compound; keep it 'terminado'.
✅ Quando você tiver terminado os exercícios, me chame.
When you've finished the exercises, give me a call.
Key Takeaways
- Form: future subjunctive of ter (tiver, tivermos, tiverem) + invariable past participle.
- Meaning: an action that will be completed before a future reference point — future-perfect logic in the subjunctive.
- Lives after future-time conjunctions: quando, depois que, assim que, logo que, enquanto não.
- The simple future subjunctive (quando você terminar) substitutes in casual speech when completion isn't the point; use the compound to stress that one action is finished before the next.
- Watch the forms: tiver (not ter), tivermos (not tivéssemos), and the invariable participle.
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- Futuro do Subjuntivo: FormationA2 — How to build the future subjunctive in Brazilian Portuguese — derived from the third-person plural preterite, and why it looks deceptively like the infinitive.
- Futuro do Subjuntivo: UsageA2 — When to use the future subjunctive in Brazilian Portuguese — the obligatory form after 'quando', 'se', 'enquanto', 'assim que' and other time conjunctions pointing to the future.
- Conjunctions of Time + SubjunctiveB1 — Temporal conjunctions like quando, assim que and antes que that govern the future subjunctive for future events — and the outlier antes que, which always takes the subjunctive.
- Compound Subjunctive Tenses: OverviewB2 — A map of the three compound subjunctive tenses — tenha falado, tivesse falado, tiver falado — built from 'ter' plus a past participle to mark an action completed before the reference point.
- Futuro Composto do Subjuntivo (tiver falado)B2 — The future subjunctive of 'ter' plus a past participle — for an action that will already be finished by some future reference point.