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How and when the future tense is used in Spanish. Looking at how regular AR / ER and IR verbs are formed in the future tense. |
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Other ways of talking about the future by using the present tense and the verb ir - to go. |
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A look at stem changes in some common irregular verbs in the future tense. |
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How the verb ‘haber’ is used in the future tense and a look at some differences between the future tense as used in English and Spanish. |
| What you can learn from this lesson | |
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Understanding when and how the future tense is used in Spanish. Recognising and understanding what happens to the structure of regular future tense verbs when conjugated (ending changes). |
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Understanding how and when other tenses may be used to talk about the future and when they might be used instead of using the future tense. |
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Being able to recognise certain patterns in the stem changes of some irregular verbs in the future tense and appreciating the need to learn the stem changes that occur in the most commonly used verbs. |
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To understand certain principles of how the future tense is used in Spanish (the word ‘will’ does not exist in Spanish), and when it is not used in the same way that we might use it in English! |
Affiliates |
SPANISH COMPLETE EDITION |
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START SPANISH |
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PART 1
The first part of this lesson looks at what the future tense is and when and how we use it in both Spanish and English. It also looks at how regular verbs are formed in the future tense.
The future tense is not the only tense we can use to talk about the future. The present tense with the verb ‘ir’ can also be used. This is covered in more detail later in the lesson.
The future tense is used in both Spanish and English to talk
about things that will happen or things that will be true in the future.
In
English the word ‘will’ or a shortened version is used to form the future
tense. In Spanish the future tense is formed by changing the verb that is being
used to talk about the future. Look at these examples using the verb to eat
(comer), and to send (enviar).
I will eat soon. Comeré pronto.
She will send it tomorrow. Ella lo enviará mañana.
If you have studied the previous lessons you will know that Spanish verbs are made up of a stem and an ending. Regular verbs in the future tense are formed by changing the endings of verbs. Irregular verbs are formed by changing both the endings of verbs and sometimes the stems as well.
Regular verbs are formed in the future tense as follows:
| personal pronoun | manejar | prender | resistir | endings |
| (to drive) | (to turn on) | (to resist) | ||
| yo | manejaré | prenderé | resistiré | ré |
| tú | manejarás | prenderás | resistirás | rás |
| él/ella/usted | manejará | prenderá | resistirá | rá |
| nosotros/nosotras | manejaremos | prenderemos | resistiremos | remos |
| vosotros/vosotras | manejaréis | prenderéis | resistiréis | réis |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | manejarán | prederán | resistirán | rán |
Things to note.
1) Accent marks (tildes), are used with all personal pronouns except the nosotros/as forms.
2) The endings of the verbs are the same for AR, ER and IR verbs.
3)
The future tense of regular verbs
is formed by adding to the ending of the verb rather than changing it.
PART 2
The second part of the lesson looks at other tenses that can be used to talk about the future.
The present tenses
Present tenses are used in both Spanish and English to talk about the future but not always in the same way. A mixture of both the present simple tense and the present continuous tense can be used. Take a look at these examples:
Ella recibe su
sueldo mañana. - She
gets paid tomorrow.
(present simple tense) (present simple tense)
Subimos por el avíon a las cuatro. - We´re getting on the plane at four.
(present simple tense) (present continuous tense)
Using the verb to go (ir).
In both Spanish and English the verb to go (ir), is used in either one of two ways. The first is by using the present simple tense as follows:
Van a la iglesia mas tarde. -They are going to church later.
Voy a la capital mañana. -I’m going to the capital tomorrow.
The other way the verb to go (ir), can be used is by using the infinitive form of the verb in English or by using the present tense form of ‘ir’ and adding ‘a’ in Spanish. Take a look at these examples with the verb to run (correr).
| personal pronoun | ir + a | correr | English translation |
| (to run) | |||
| yo | voy a | correr | I'm going to run |
| tú | vas a | correr | your going to run |
| él/ella/usted | va a | correr | he's/she's/your (polite) going to run |
| nosotros/nosotras | vamos a | correr | we're going to run |
| vosotros/vosotras | vais a | correr | your (all) going to run |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | van a | correr | they're / your (all) polite going to run |
Things to note:
1) The letter 'a' is always placed directly after the formation of 'ir'.
2) When the verb 'ir' + 'a' is used in this way, a verb will always come directly after the letter 'a'.
The verb form, 'vamos' can also be used in the same way above to mean 'lets' in English:
Vamos a correr. - Lets go running (let's run).
Vamos a comer. - Lets go and eat (let's eat).
Vamos al cine - Lets go to the cinema.
PART 3
This part of the lesson looks at how the future tense is formed in Spanish with some irregular verbs. Regular verbs are formed by adding to the ending of a verb without changing the verbs stem as described in part one of this lesson. Irregular verbs are formed by changing both the stem and the ending of the verb. It is important to note however that the endings of irregular verbs are added to in exactly the same way as regular verbs are added to.
Here are some examples of how some of the most common irregular verbs are formed in Spanish:
| yo | tú | el/ella/usted | nosotros/as | vosotros/as | ellos/ellas/ ustedes |
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| decir (to say) |
diré | dirás | dirá | diremos | diréis | dirán |
| hacer (to do/make) |
haré | harás | hará | haremos | haréis | harán |
| poder (to be able) |
podré | podrás | podrá | podremos | podréis | podrán |
| poner (to put) |
pondré | pondrás | pondrá | pondremos | pondréis | pondrán |
| querer (to want) |
querré | querrás | querrá | querremos | querréis | querrán |
| saber (to know) |
sabré | sabrás | sabrá | sabremos | sabréis | sabrán |
| tener (to have) |
tendré | tendrás | tendrá | tendremos | tendréis | tendrán |
| venir (to come) |
vendré | vendrás | vendrá | vendremos | vendréis | vendrán |
| salir (to leave) |
saldré | saldrás | saldrá | saldremos | saldréis | saldrán |
| haber (to have) |
habré | habrás | habrá | habremos | habréis | habrán |
PART 4
Part four of the lesson looks at how the future tense is used with ‘haber’ (to have - auxiliary verb). For more information on auxiliary verbs take a look at our definitions section of this website and also the lessons on the perfect tenses. We will also look at some differences between how the future tense is sometimes used in Spanish and English.
Using haber
‘Haber’ is also used in the future tense in Spanish in the following way:
habrá |
there will be |
Using ‘will’ in English as an expression of ‘to be
willing’
Sometimes ‘will’ is used in English as a way of saying for example, ‘are you willing to do something’. This is not the same in Spanish. Take a look at this example:
Marco will you wait
for me? - ¿Marco
me quieres esperar?
Will you come with me? - ¿(Tú) quieres venir conmigo ?
In Spanish the verb ‘querer’ (to want), is often used.
That concludes this lesson on the future tense. If you have
not done so already watch the actual video for this lesson and then try one of
the associated quizzes to test your understanding.
