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".... a correspondent whom many of you will have heard on BBC radio ....". This phrase is quoted from a BBC Radio program (Assignment; Hugh Sykes; reporting from the frontlines; released on 27 August 2020). Why does the speaker use "will have"? Does it mean "if you haven't already heard the correspondent, you may do so if you keep listening"? What is the level of probability (possible, probable, certain)? Thanks!  

Aws Al-Jashami
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  • It's arranged or planned that you will hear them before a specific time in the future. – Andrew Tobilko Jan 18 '23 at 18:25
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    More likely, another way of saying 'whom many of you have probably heard'. – Kate Bunting Jan 18 '23 at 18:35
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    Does this answer your question? [Some of you will have met me before vs Some of you met me before](https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/100663/some-of-you-will-have-met-me-before-vs-some-of-you-met-me-before) – FumbleFingers Jan 18 '23 at 18:53
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    What @KateBunting said. It's nothing to do with "planned" actions - it's just an established form of "polite hesitancy". The speaker doesn't want to baldly assert that you ***did** hear it*, because he has no definitive authority to back that up. Effectively his circumlocution is implying ***If** we had access to the truth here / **If** we looked into it, **it would turn out** than many of you did,,,* – FumbleFingers Jan 18 '23 at 18:59
  • This is future perfect tense for the verb 'hear'. "The future perfect is a verb tense used for actions that will be completed before some other point in the future." https://www.grammarly.com/blog/future-perfect/?gclsrc=aw.ds&gclsrc=ds – Gus Jan 18 '23 at 19:01

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'Will' can be used as a modal verb to refer to what is likely in the present. The fragment could be rewritten as:

a correspondent whom many of you, it is likely, have heard on BBC radio

will modal verb (LIKELY) (also 'll)

used to refer to what is likely:

That'll be Scott at the door.
That'll be his mother with him. As you all will know, election day is next week.
You will have heard about the plans for next week.
You will probably have already made plans for the weekend.
That'll be Tony on the phone.
As you will have guessed by now, David and I are engaged.
You will be aware that things haven't been going well.

Will (Cambridge Dictionary)

Michael Harvey
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