Sentence Tense Improvement: Future Perfect

The original sentence is: "By the time you arrive, we finishes dinner." The task is to select the most appropriate tense for the underlined word "finishes" to correct the sentence.

Understanding the Context with "By the time"

The phrase "By the time" is crucial here. It connects two actions set to occur in the future. It specifically implies that one action will be completed before the other one begins or happens.

• Future Action 1: You arrive.
• Future Action 2: We finish dinner.

The structure "By the time + simple present clause, ... future perfect clause" is commonly used when the action in the main clause (finishing dinner) needs to be completed before the action in the subordinate clause (you arrive). In this case, dinner completion precedes arrival.

Analyzing the Original Sentence's Errors

The original sentence "we finishes dinner" contains errors:

1. Subject-Verb Agreement: The subject "we" is plural, but "finishes" is the third-person singular form of the present tense. A present tense version would require "we finish".
2. Incorrect Tense: More significantly, the context demands a tense indicating completion before a future point, not the simple present tense.

Explaining the Future Perfect Tense

To accurately describe an action that will be completed before another point in the future, the Future Perfect Tense is the correct choice.

The standard structure for the Future Perfect Tense is:

$will have + Past Participle$

Applying this to the verb "finish":

• Auxiliary Verbs: $will have$
• Past Participle of "finish": $finished$

Thus, the correct verb form is $will have finished$.

Evaluating the Options Provided

1. $will finish$: This is the Future Simple tense. It indicates an action that will happen in the future, but it doesn't emphasize completion before another future event.
2. $have finished$: This is the Present Perfect tense. It relates past actions to the present or ongoing actions. It's not suitable for actions completed before a specific future time.
3. $finished$: This is the Past Simple tense. It refers to actions completed in the past and is incorrect for future events.
4. $will have finished$: This is the Future Perfect tense. It correctly expresses that the action of finishing dinner will be completed prior to your arrival, fitting the "By the time" structure perfectly.

The Corrected Sentence

Using the Future Perfect Tense, the improved sentence reads:

"By the time you arrive, we will have finished dinner."

This version accurately reflects that dinner will be completely finished before you get there.