Future Perfect: wäert ... hunn

Level 5

Wäert + participle + hunn or sinn means will have done: Bis muer wäert hien d'Aarbecht fäerdeg gemaach hunn. It also guesses about the past: Si wäert den Zuch verpasst hunn.

How It Works

1. How to build it
Take wäert in second place (ech wäert, du wäerts, hie wäert, mir wäerten, si wäerten). At the end, put the participle and hunn or sinn, exactly as in the perfect:

  • hunn: Si wäert den Zuch verpasst hunn.
  • sinn: Hie wäert schonn ageschlof sinn.

2. A guess about the past
This is the most common use. You have not seen it happen, but it seems likely:

  • Hien äntwert net. Hie wäert schonn ageschlof sinn. (He isn't answering. He has probably already fallen asleep.)
  • Si wäerten d'Adress vergiess hunn. (They must have forgotten the address.)

English often says must have or probably here.

3. Finished by a point in the future
With a time phrase such as bis (by), it says that something will be done by then:

  • Bis muer wäert hien d'Aarbecht fäerdeg gemaach hunn. (By tomorrow he will have finished the work.)
  • Bis de Summer wäerte mir geplënnert sinn. (By the summer we will have moved.)

In everyday speech, the plain perfect with a time word often does this job too: Bis muer hunn ech et fäerdeg gemaach.

4. The n-rule
Wäerten and hien follow the n-rule: mir wäerte before a consonant like m or s, but si wäerten d'Adress before d.

Examples (5)

  1. Bis muer wäert hien d'Aarbecht fäerdeg gemaach hunn.

    By tomorrow he will have finished the work.

    Bis muer gives the point by which it will be done.

  2. Si wäert den Zuch verpasst hunn.

    She has probably missed the train.

    This is a guess about something that has already happened.

  3. Hien äntwert net, hie wäert schonn ageschlof sinn.

    He isn't answering; he has probably already fallen asleep.

    Aschlofen forms its perfect with sinn, so this form ends in sinn too.

  4. Si wäerten d'Adress vergiess hunn.

    They must have forgotten the address.

    Wäerten keeps its n before d.

  5. Bis de Summer wäerte mir geplënnert sinn.

    By the summer we will have moved.

    Wäerten loses its n before m.

Common Mistakes

  • Using sinn with a verb that takes hunn.

    Si wäert den Zuch verpasst sinn.
    Si wäert den Zuch verpasst hunn.

    Use the same helper verb as in the perfect. It is Si huet den Zuch verpasst, so the future perfect ends in verpasst hunn.

  • Using hunn with a verb that takes sinn.

    Hie wäert schonn ageschlof hunn.
    Hie wäert schonn ageschlof sinn.

    Aschlofen takes sinn in the perfect (hien ass ageschlof), so the future perfect ends in ageschlof sinn.

  • Using an infinitive instead of a participle.

    Si wäert den Zuch verpassen hunn.
    Si wäert den Zuch verpasst hunn.

    Before hunn or sinn you need the past participle, verpasst, not the infinitive.

How It Connects

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Future Perfect: wäert ... hunnLevel 5

Learn This First

Before Future Perfect: Wäert ... hunn, learn Future and Guesses: Wäert and Perfect Tense With Hunn.

Words in This Pattern

wäertenhunn