The Future Perfect Tense
When discussing project milestones and deadlines, you often need to describe an action that will be fully completed before a specific point in the future. In English, we express this as "will have done" something. In Icelandic, we use the future perfect tense.
To form this tense, combine the conjugated verb munu (will), the infinitive verb hafa (have), and the supine form (sagnbót) of your main action verb.
Here is a quick reminder of how to conjugate munu:
| Pronoun | Form of munu |
|---|---|
| ég | mun |
| þú | munt |
| hann / hún / það | mun |
| við | munum |
| þið | munuð |
| þau | munu |
Notice how this tense is typically paired with future time markers to establish the deadline, such as á morgun (tomorrow) or fyrir fundinn (before the meeting).
| We will have documented the progress tomorrow. | Við munum hafa skjalfest framvinduna á morgun. |
| They will have shown the prototype to her before the meeting. | Þau munu hafa sýnt henni frumgerðina fyrir fundinn. |
To ask a question in the future perfect tense, simply swap the order of the subject and the conjugated verb munu, just as you would with other helper verbs. The rest of the sentence structure remains the same.
| Will the timeframe have changed before the weekend? | Mun tímaramminn hafa breyst fyrir helgina? |
| Will you have finished the prototype's quality test tomorrow? | Munt þú hafa klárað gæðaprófunina á frumgerðinni á morgun? |