Question:

Identify the correct sentence from the options given below.

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A state lasting up to a future date needs the future perfect, will have been married, not past perfect or simple future.
Updated On: Jul 10, 2026
  • The news channel agreed to report that next Sunday the couple had been married for 10 years.
  • The news channel agreed to report that next Sunday the couple will have been married for 10 years.
  • The news channel agreed to report that next Sunday the couple will be married for 10 years.
  • The news channel agreed to report that next Sunday the couple could have been married for 10 years.
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The Correct Option is B

Solution and Explanation

The sentence describes a state, being married, that started in the past and will still be continuing at a specific point in the future, next Sunday. This calls for the future perfect, will have been married, which shows a state completed by, or continuing up to, a future time.

  1. the couple had been married for 10 years: Had been married is past perfect, used for something that had already happened before another past event. Next Sunday is a future time, so the past perfect tense does not fit here.
  2. the couple will have been married for 10 years: Will have been married is future perfect, exactly right for a state that will have reached 10 years by a future date, next Sunday. This is grammatically correct and matches the meaning intended.
  3. the couple will be married for 10 years: This is simple future, and it wrongly suggests the marriage itself, or a 10 year period of it, begins at that future point, rather than describing 10 years that have already built up by then.
  4. the couple could have been married for 10 years: Could have expresses possibility or doubt, but the sentence is stating a fact, the couple has been married for 10 years as of next Sunday, not a guess.

Only option 2 uses the future perfect correctly to show a state that will have lasted 10 years by a future date, so option 2 is correct.

Let's summarize:

  • Use the future perfect, will have been, for a state that will be complete, or will have reached a certain duration, by a stated future time.
  • Past perfect, simple future, and could have each carry a different, wrong meaning here.

The couple will have been married for 10 years by next Sunday, so option 2 is the answer.

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