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17:35 May 2, 2011
English to English translations [PRO] Linguistics
English term or phrase:meaning of the future perfect tense
Hello everyone,
LGBT offenders are more likely to suffer from STDs, including HIV/AIDS, problems associated with drug abuse and other health conditions, since often they will have been forced into a lifestyle that includes risk behaviors because of prejudices relating to their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Do I understand correctly that the future perfect tense is used to indicate probability in the present?
In other words, does "they will have been forced into a lifestyle" means "probably they have been forced"?
Explanation: There are two uses of the future present.
To say what will have been achieved or completed by a certain time in the future: "Ring me tomorrow evening. I'll have the test results by then" = I don't have the results now. I will receive them sometime tomorrow.
To "predict the present" - a present that we can't be 100% sure of but we can be reasonably sure of: "It's no use phoning - he'll have left by now" = I don't know for sure but I have some reason to believe this is true.
It's the second case you have here so you are right that there is an element of probability - the writer does not personally know the people he is referring to but he does have experience in this field.
However, it would be wrong to say that this element of probability always exists in the future present tense - except that none of us can be sure about the future!
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 2 hrs (2011-05-02 19:38:55 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
I took the second example and all the explanation from Michael Swan's "Practical English Usage", the EFL teacher's bible.
... rather than probability. But can it also signify either regret or a wish to soften the impact of what one is saying? Or is the following only expressing a lack of evidence for something the speaker is, nonetheless, convinced about.
Unfortunately, you will have missed him as he will have caught the 6 pm train.
I think they're all probabilities/hunches/ etc. "This will have been built by the Romans" means "This was probably built by the Romans but I don't have any direct evidence." A more convincing argument would be: "Tacitus said in xxx that this was built during the time of Emperor yyy". No future perfect there - could be complete nonsense of course but the speaker is not expressing uncertainty!
I'm still not convinced by the "probability" argument - because you can say something like "The train will definitely have left by now" - my hunch is that it is more about reporting something of which you don't have direct evidence, so you say "This will have been built by the Romans" or "He will have been given this by his grandmother" about something which you know to be true but in which you haven't been directly and personally involved.
He will have left by now = I expect he has left by now.
He must have left by now = In all probability he has left by now (otherwise he'll be late/he always leaves on time/nobody could have left it this late to leave)
This is not an example of the future perfect. It is also, as Armorel notes, not just about probability. To take up her example "invariably they will have been forced ...": what this really means is that the writer is certain that is the case, not all instances/cases have been substantiated with evidence, possibly because they have not yet all been investigated, but when they are this will be found to be the case, possibly (but not necessarily) because new cases are still occuring. In the Asker's example new cases would still be occuring.
Here "will" is used as a modal verb with a past meaning, like "must/could/may/might + have + past participle". The modal "will" expresses in this context a high degree of certaintly related to some past action. (...were forced...)
... and it leaves me trying to define the difference (which is subtle) between "often they have been forced ...." and "often they will have been forced ....". I don't think it's just to do with probability, because you could say "... invariably they will have been forced ..." (i.e. it is always the case - no element of "perhaps").
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Answers
7 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +3
often they will have been forced into a lifestyle
Explanation: Yes, your interpretation is correct. The author is reflecting that, in many cases, offenders were probably forced into the lifestyle he describes. I think you could describe it better as probability in the past, rather than the present.
Martin Riordan Brazil Local time: 22:18 Native speaker of: English, Portuguese
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +3
