Breakdown of Cependant, quand la population rurale aura vieilli, la jeune génération partira.
jeune
young
avoir
to have
quand
when
partir
to leave / to depart
la population
the population
la génération
the generation
cependant
however
vieillir
to age
rural
rural
Questions & Answers about Cependant, quand la population rurale aura vieilli, la jeune génération partira.
Why is it aura vieilli (will have aged) when the English translation says "has aged"?
In English, we often use the present perfect after "when" for future events ("when the population has aged"). French is more strictly logical with its timeline: because the aging will happen in the future, before the young generation leaves (partira), French uses the futur antérieur (future perfect) after quand.
How do I know whether to use avoir or être to form the futur antérieur of vieillir?
You use the exact same auxiliary verb that the verb takes in the passé composé. Because vieillir (to age) takes avoir in the past tense (elle a vieilli), it also takes avoir in the future perfect (elle aura vieilli).
Since la population rurale is feminine, shouldn't vieilli have an extra "e" at the end?
No, because the auxiliary verb here is avoir (aura). When using avoir, the past participle only agrees if there is a direct object placed before the verb. Since there is no preceding direct object in this clause, vieilli stays in its default masculine singular form.
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