eagerness  +  543726 Sun, 20 Jul 08 01:00 AM Which of the two future tenses above is more appropriate to use in the below sentences, and why? "By the time you come back, the coffe will be ready". "By the time you come back, the coffe will have been ready". Thank you in advance for your insight. eagerness Joined on Tue, Jul 1 2008 New Member 39 Tenses

	Mr Wordy  +  543745 Sun, 20 Jul 08 01:38 AM It should be the first. Placing ourselves at the future time when he comes back, the appropriate statement is "the coffee is ready", not "the coffee has been ready". Transferring this back to the present gives "will be ready", not "will have been ready". In contrast, consider "By the time you come back, I will have finished". In this case the appropriate statement, at the time he comes back, is "I have finished". This translates to "will have finished". Mr Wordy Joined on Tue, May 27 2008 Senior Member 2,359 Native British English speaker Tenses