The Spanish Future TenseEl futuro de indicativo

© 2014 Marie-Claire Hunter, Learn English Spanish Onlinewww.learnenglishspanishonline.com/spanish

In Spanish, as well as using the *future tense proper, the future can be expressed in a number of other ways

Esta tarde vamos al parque. This afternoon we’re going to the park.

Esta tarde vamos a ir al parque.This afternoon we’re going to go to the park.

Esta tarde iremos al parque.This afternoon we’ll go to the park.

Esta tarde hemos de ir al parque.This afternoon we’re to go to the park.

From now on we shall refer to the future tense proper as ‘the future simple’.

Soon we shall see when best to use each tense but first let’s learn how to form the Spanish simple future tense.

How to form the future tense

Regular verbs in the future tense are conjugated by adding the following endings to the infinitive form

of the verb: -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án.

Remember that all of the future simple endings are accented except for the nosotros form!

-é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án

Future simple endings

-ar -er -ir

hablar comer vivir

(yo) hablaré comeré viviré

(tú) hablarás comerás vivirás

(él, ella, Ud.) hablará comerá vivirá

(nosotros) hablaremos comeremos viviremos

(vosotros) hablaréis comeréis viviréis

(ellos, Uds.) hablarán comerán vivirán

Some verbs have irregular stems but the endings stay the same …

caber (to fit) yo cabré, etc …poner (to put) yo pondrédecir (to say) yo diréhaber (to be, have) yo habrésalir (to leave) yo saldréhacer (to do, make) yo harépoder (to be able) yo podrétener (to have) yo tendréquerer (to want) yo querrévaler (to be worth) yo valdrésaber (to know) yo sabrévenir (to come) yo vendré

NB: The same irregularities are carried over to any compound verbs.Eg. ‘Provenir’ (to come from) – provendré, etc.

So …. time to practice!

Can you translate the following phrases using the future simple tense?

They will eat.I will write.

She will sing.You (tú) will have.

How did you do?

Comerán. They will eat.Escribiré. I will write.Cantará.She will sing.Tendrás.You will have. (tú)

Now let’s see if we can remember those irregular verb stems in the future simple.

SEE HOW MANY YOU CAN REMEMBER VERB IRREGULAR STEMcaber (to fit) __________poner (to put) __________decir (to say) __________haber (to be, have) __________salir (to leave) __________hacer (to do, make) __________poder (to be able) __________tener (to have) __________querer (to want) __________valer (to be worth) __________saber (to know) __________venir (to come) __________

Hopefully you said …

caber (to fit) cabrponer (to put) pondrdecir (to say) dirhaber (to be, have) habrsalir (to leave) saldrhacer (to do, make) harpoder (to be able) podrtener (to have) tendrquerer (to want) querrvaler (to be worth) valdrsaber (to know) sabrvenir (to come) vendr

And now fill the gaps with the best verb form to express the future.

Nos _____ un premio, ¿cierto? (dar)They’ll give us a prize, won’t they?

¿Qué hora _____? (ser)I wonder what time it is?

Te _____ mañana. (llamar)I’ll call you tomorrow.

Te _____ por siempre. (amar)I’ll love you forever.

¡______ cien años! (tener)He must be 100 years old!

_______ al parque está tarde. (ir)We’re going to the park this afternoon. (prearranged)

¡Si sigues estudiando así ______ éxito! (tener)If you (tú) keep studying like this you will have success!

Hopefully you said ...

Nos darán un premio, ¿cierto?They’ll give us a prize, won’t they?

¿Qué hora será?I wonder what time it is?

Te llamo mañana.I’ll call you tomorrow.

Te amaré por siempre.I’ll love you forever.

¡Tendrá cien años!He must be 100 years old!

Vamos al parque está tarde.We’re going to the park this afternoon. (prearranged)

¡Si sigues estudiando así tendrás éxito!If you (tú) keep studying like this you will have success!

And do you know why?Nos darán un premio, ¿cierto?

This is the uncertain future so the future simple is a good choice.

¿Qué hora será?The future simple is also good for supposition, wonder, conjecture etc.

Te llamo mañana.Instead of the future simple it’s much better to use the present tense for near future events.

Te amaré por siempre.The future simple is good for promises.

¡Tendrá cien años!The future simple for supposition, approximation, conjecture etc.

Vamos al parque está tarde.The present tense is much better for prearranged events for the near future.

¡Si sigues estudiando así tendrás éxito!The future simple is good for provisional statements about the future.

Now, remember at the beginning of the lesson we saw that there are a number of ways to express the

future in Spanish?

Esta tarde vamos al parque. This afternoon we’re going to the park.

Esta tarde vamos a ir al parque.This afternoon we’re going to go to the park.

Esta tarde iremos al parque.This afternoon we’ll go to the park.Esta tarde hemos de ir al parque.

This afternoon we’re to go to the park.

Let’s see when best to use each of the above constructions.

*To start with, many learners of Spanish will tend to use the future simple tense when a native Spanish

speaker would instead favour the present tense.

* this often is not their fault as many grammar books will teach students to do so

For example …

This afternoon we will go to the park.(future tense)

Esta tarde vamos al parque.(present tense)

Although using the future tense would not be wrong in the preceding example, you will find that in Spanish it is quite

natural to use the present tense to refer to prearranged events in the immediate future

Esta tarde iremos al parque. or Esta tarde vamos al parque. This afternoon we will go (lit. we are going) to the park.

This is often possible in English too with little, if any, difference between using the future simple or the present tense when

referring to prearranged events in the near future.

This afternoon we will go to the park. This afternoon we are going to the park

The difference is that even when it doesn’t quite work in English, near future expressions in Spanish are very

naturally expressed using the present tense.

I am calling you tomorrow. I’ll call you tomorrow.Te llamo mañana.

Another present tense option to refer to the future …

The present tense construction ‘ir a + an infintive’ (the periphrastic future) is another substitute for the future simple tense.

Use it to refer to things in the foreseeable future or for things that you intend to do.

Esta tarde iremos al parque.Esta tarde vamos a ir al parque.

So when should you use the future simple tense?

Use it for less certain statements about the future or when the context doesn’t make clear that you’re referring to the future.

Nos veremos en la escuela ¿no es cierto?We’ll see each other at school, won’t we?

Use the future tense …for provisional statements about the future

(eg. such and such will happen provided that something else happens first)

Una vez que abras tu cuenta, te enlazarán a las lecciones, donde verás todos los temas que tienes a disposición.

Once your account is set up, you'll be directed to the lessons, where you’ll see all the subjects available to you.

Use the future tense for promises …

No te decepcionaré. I won’t disappoint you.

Te cuidaré y te ayudaré. I will take care of you and I will help you.

Nothing like what she fears will happen.No pasará nada de lo que teme.

For suppositions (in the present time) Often expressing wonder, incredulity or conjecture.

¿Qué será esto? I wonder what this is?

¿Qué hora será? I wonder what time it is?

¡No dirás que no te ama! You’re not going to say that he doesn’t love you!

Estará en la cocina. He’s probably in the kitchen.

For approximations …Tendrá unos sesenta años.

He must be about 70 years old.

Un par de años hará … recibí una llamada de tío Juan.It must be a couple of years ago … I got a call from Uncle John.

NB: The use of the future tense for suppositions and approximations is much more common in Spain than in Latin America.

A little extra

In English ‘will’ is sometimes used to mean ‘to be willing to’.

If this is the case it would be translated using ‘querer’ rather than the future simple tense.

¿Quiere Ud. ir de mi parte? Will you go for me?

¿Quieres lavar los trastes, amor? Will you wash the dishes, love?

El Fin

Hopefully now you know how to form the future simple and also when to use it.

© 2014 Marie-Claire Hunter, Learn English Spanish Onlinewww.learnenglishspanishonline.com/spanish