Breakdown of Quand j'aurai terminé, je t'appellerai.
quand
when
appeler
to call (general)
terminer
to end, to complete
Questions & Answers about Quand j'aurai terminé, je t'appellerai.
Why is aurai terminé in the future tense when the English translation says "have finished"?
In English, we use present tenses after "when" to talk about the future. However, French is strict about time: if the action happens in the future, you must use a future tense after quand. Because finishing happens before calling, French uses the futur antérieur (future perfect) to show one future action will be entirely completed before the second one starts.
How exactly is aurai terminé formed here?
The futur antérieur is built using the same two-part structure as the passé composé, but the helper verb is in the future tense instead of the present. Here, we take the future tense of avoir for je (j'aurai) and add the past participle of the main verb terminer (terminé).
Why does appellerai have two L's when the infinitive appeler only has one?
Why is it je t'appellerai instead of "j'appellerai te"?
In French, direct object pronouns like te (you) must go immediately before the conjugated verb, not after it. Since the verb appellerai starts with a vowel, the pronoun te drops its "e" and becomes t' to make the words flow together.
Learn Quand j'aurai terminé, je t'appellerai and more in French
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free