darkweasel:well, actually i mean just the general distinction between what in esperanto is -os and estos -inta. i do see a point in distinguishing that from a normal future tense, but none in distinguishing "will have done" and "will have been doing".

Compare:

1. "By the time you get home, I will have done the washing up."

= the washing up will be finished.

2. "By the time you get home, I will have been doing the washing up for 5 minutes."

= the washing up will not be finished. I will have started washing up five minutes before your arrival, and I will still be doing it when you get home!

---

How can we translate those into Esperanto?

1. Kiam vi alvenos hejmen, mi jam estos lavinta la vazaron/vazojn.

2. Kiam vi alvenos hejmen, mi estos lavanta la vazaron/vazojn jam 5 minutojn.

It's also possible to make the sentences simpler by using 'antaŭ ol' etc...

geo63:I will have been having been done...

That's a nice example of utter nonsense!

ceigered:(I will have been having been having done would be more correct BTW, unless you wanted it to be passive . Frick, this stuff is like maths! )

Correct - I am done with it whatever tense it tends to be. Seeing all those "would have been" makes me sick.

Chainy:

geo63:I will have been having been done...

That's a nice example of utter nonsense!

Oh dear, you have noticed. What a success! You are making progress.

geo63:Oh dear, you have noticed. What a success! You are making progress.

PS: I'm surprised you responded to me, as I thought you were still in a sulk.

geo63:Who cares what tenses the English have for themselves - we (foreigners) do not use even those rightful ones when speaking Globish.

Yes, I suspect that in Globish you'd come across something along the lines of:

"I'll be washing up already for/during/since 5 minutes when you will arrive to home."

This is the wrong way of saying it, but everyone can understand it perfectly well.

Chainy:

geo63:Oh dear, you have noticed. What a success! You are making progress.

PS: I'm surprised you responded to me, as I thought you were still in a sulk.

I had to reward your perceptivity. If something is black and everybody sees it is black then there is no need to tell what color it is.

geo63:I had to reward your perceptivity. If something is black and everybory sees it is black then there is no need to tell what color it is.

I can only say that I'm glad I stumbled across a way to snap you out of your stubborn sulk!

geo63:Correct - I am done with it whatever tense it tend do be. Seeing all those "would have been" makes me sick.

They're like (legal) drugs*, these theoretical tenses. Use them too much and you have withdrawal effects .

*I as a lernu! user am not promoting illicit activities. Kids, don't use tenses.

Chainy:It's also possible to make the sentences simpler by using 'antaŭ ol' etc...

"Antaŭ ol vi revenos, mi ankoraŭ lavos la vazojn"?

Chainy:
2. "By the time you get home, I will have been doing the washing up for 5 minutes."

= the washing up will not be finished. I will have started washing up five minutes before your arrival, and I will still be doing it when you get home!

Ah ok, I keep forgetting that "have been -ing" doesn’t express any kind of past tense, but actually the present tense. Even though it looks nearly like the present perfect tense, which does express something that happened in the past. Do you understand why this is really somewhat difficult for non-natives?