Tell me more ×
English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 3 down vote favorite

My point is whether there is such a context, in which "you will show" would really change the meaning if it is substituted for "you will have shown".

share|improve this question

2 Answers

up vote 5 down vote accepted

In the sentences:

After we've seen your performance, you will have shown us your talent.

After we've seen your performance, you will show us your talent.

the first sentence implies that the "showing of talent" takes place as part of the performance. The second implies that it will happen after the performance. So the meanings are different.

share|improve this answer
WOW!!! Thank you Psmears. Exactly what I needed. – brilliant Mar 8 '11 at 14:20
up vote 0 down vote

"You will have shown" is a phrase using the future perfect, which is normally used when describing an event in the future to show its relevance with another event in the future, or when describing an action that will take place before some specified or predictable time. The time could also be specified by a previous sentence, or clause.

By then, you will have shown what you meant to do since the beginning.

share|improve this answer
If I say "By then, you will show what you meant to do since the beginning", will it change the meaning? – brilliant Mar 8 '11 at 14:28
2  
Probably not, but I don't think it is something a native speaker would say. The simple future is incompatible with the "by then". – Colin Fine Mar 8 '11 at 15:51
@Colin Fine: When I google "by then you will" it gives me a lot of cases when "by then" is used with Future Simple (true, the majority of cases are Future Perfect). Most such cases come with the verb "be", for example, "by then you will be able to" or "by then you will be in love with her already", perhaps, because they are expressing a state of being rather than a by-then completed action. Cases with "by then" + Future Simple become predominant when the verb is in negation - when I google "by then you will not", I almost always get Future Simple. – brilliant Mar 8 '11 at 17:04
True, with a stative verb, or a continuous form, "by then you will ..." is fine. I was thinking of dynamic verbs. – Colin Fine Mar 8 '11 at 17:10

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.