How to form the future Tense (el futuro) in Spanish.
Want to talk about the future in Spanish? Then you’ll need this tense. It’s an easy one, you’ll be pleased to know!
In fact, here at Hablarama we think that the future tense should be one of the first four tenses which you learn in Spanish. The other three are the present indicative, the pretérito perfecto compuesto and the pretérito. Those last two tenses are used for talking about the past.
The futuro is simple to conjugate and doesn’t need any additional auxiliary verbs.
Let’s start by looking at the three groups of regular verbs (AR, ER & IR). As you’ll see, the future tense is formed using the infinitive as the root and adding simple suffixes:
| Person /Verb | Hablar – Speak | Vivir – Live | Comer – Eat |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | hablaré | viviré | comeré |
| tú | hablarás | vivirás | comerás |
| él / ella | hablará | vivirá | comerá |
| nosotros | hablaremos | viviremos | comeremos |
| vosotros | hablaréis | viviréis | comeréis |
| ellos | hablarán | vivirán | comerán |
Here are a few example phrases so that you can see the future tense in use:
- Hablaré con mi jefe
I’ll speak with my boss. - En el futuro viviremos en rascacielos hechos de madera.
In the future we’ll live in skyscrapers made of wood. - Hoy comeremos con la abuela.*
Today we’ll have lunch with grandma.
*Remember that ‘comer’ doesn’t just mean to eat, but also ‘to have lunch’.
Irregular verbs
A small number of verbs change their ROOT before adding the standard endings:
| CABER – to fit | CABR |
| DECIR – to say | DIR |
| HABER – to have | HABR |
| HACER – to do/make | HAR |
| PODER – to be able to | PODR |
| PONER – to put | PONDR |
| QUERER – to want | QUERR |
| SABER – to know | SABR |
| SALIR – to go out | SALDR |
| TENER – to have | TENDR |
| VENIR – to come | VENDR |
| VALER – to be worth | VALDR |
Let’s have a look at three of those verbs:
| Decir – to say | Poder – to be able to | Querer – to want | Tener – to have |
|---|---|---|---|
| diré | podré | querré | tendré |
| dirás | podrás | querrás | tendrás |
| dirá | podrá | querrá | tendrá |
| diremos | podremos | querremos | tendremos |
| diréis | podréis | querréis | tendréis |
| dirán | podrán | querrán | tendrán |
Although the root changes theses irregular verbs use the same suffixes (é, ás, á…) as the regular verbs.
Examples
Some example phrases uses the stem-changing verbs:
- Vendré más tarde.
I’ll come later. - Lo haré mañana.
I’ll do it tomorrow. - No podremos venir mañana.
We won’t be able to come tomorrow. - Querrá mostrarte las fotos de su boda.
She’ll want to show you the photos from her wedding. - Saldremos con el barco este fin de semana.
We’ll take the boat out this weekend. - Haremos todo lo posible.
We’ll do everything possible.
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