Can't get my head round this one!

[Alan]

Hi,

I had a Mon. Jourdain moment earlier this morning. The gent I am referring to is the main character in Moliere's comedy Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, in which Jourdain is being conned by various impostors to part with his money. In this instance he is told something by his tutor that makes him feel very pleased with himself because he is led to believe that he has been speaking prose all his life. Now, I have been using the following construction all my life but in all honesty I can't explain it logically. I turned on the radio earlier this morning to hear a highly respected radio journalist announce: 'Now, you will have heard on this programme yesterday ....' How do I explain to one of our contributors to the forums this use of the future perfect?

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Womens' Day

[Fan of Arabian horses]

Hi Alan!

As for German contributors it is easy, I think! There is a similar saying: "Du (Sie) wirst (werden) gestern gehört haben....." means the speaker (the journalist in this case) expects his listeners had heard the report the day before and now tries to remind them to that. "Will" might seem a more gentle form of "must"?

Or can I say: You can´t have overheard it yesterday, it´s been all over town"?

Look forward to reading the correct solution

Michael

Ps.: A German saying sounds: "The sparrows sung it from all roofs yesterday"

[SkiIucK]

Yes, it indeed does sound odd, however, there is a similar usage of the 'future perfect' in my own language, too, so it is common for me.

[NinaZara]

I still don't get it...if I complete the sentence as 'Now, you will have heard on this programme yesterday, had you listened', I think I understand it, but is that what the speaker intended to say?

[Yankee]

Hi Nina

You would need the word 'would' (instead of 'will') in the first half of the sentence if you wanted to finish it with 'had you listened'.

The word 'will' can be used to indicate that something is likely or sometimes even that something is inevitable. So, you can say something like this:
'You will already know this if you listened to yesterday's program.

I understand the meaning of Alan's partial sentence this way:
'It is likely that you heard [i][something] on yesterday's program[/i]'
-OR-
'I expect it to be true that you heard [i][something] on yesterday's program[/i]'

To me, our friend Michael hit the nail on the head when he described Alan's partial sentence as stating an 'expectation' of the speaker. The radio journalist basically thinks it quite likely that you listened yesterday, and also that you (inevitably) heard [something in particular] when you listened.
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Amy
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ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

[NinaZara]

Thank you for your explanation Amy. But I still fail to see the word 'will' and 'expectation'. I guess this is one of the phrases in the English language that I could only understand thru experience.

Maybe you and Alan can give us examples with various situations using this use of future perfect. I think that is the logical way to explain it. Or I should play it in my mind until I grasp the meaning.
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Okotteru Papa mo suki dakedo, nikoniko yasashii Papa ha mo~tto suki!

[catherin]

HI! I am CATHERIN.....i am a beginner ....this may be a silly questions but i have been thinking over it for a long time...and now i got a personal helper and thats u....so here is my question...
when you have official (hulk) people in your company for an occasion or affair and you are told to welcome that honorable person then what are you suppose to say verbally... (Is just shaking hands enough?) How do we make them feel welcome?

[Yankee]

[Yankee]

[NinaZara]

Hi Amy,

So basically that is what the 'will' here is all about? Why didn't I think of it! Thanks a million red m&m's!

Nina