quote:
Tom will finish his work at midnight.
and
Tom will have finished his work at midnight.
"Tom will finish his work
at midnight" means that he will be working until midnight, and midnight is more or less the exact time he will finish working.
"Tom will have finished his work
by midnight" means that Tom will work until a time before midnight, when the work will be finished. We don't know when. Maybe 8, 9 or 10 o'clock.
Note that with the future perfect, we usually use the preposition
by, or
before.
RA