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Key points about the future tense in Spanish

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  • There are two forms of the future tense in Spanish - the immediate future and the simple future.
  • Use the immediate future tense to talk about what is going to happen.
  • Use the simple future tense to talk about what will happen.
  • Use the verb ir (to go) followed by a and an to form the immediate future.
  • like lo usually go before the present tense of ir in the immediate future.
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Video - Future tense in Spanish

Watch the video to learn how to use the future tense in Spanish.

An explanation of the uses of the future tense and how to conjugate it

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Different ways of talking about the future in Spanish

There are two main for talking about the future:

  1. The immediate future is used to say what you are going to do or what is going to happen.

For example:

Voy a hacer mis deberes. - I鈥檓 going to do my homework.

Va a tener hijos dentro de diez a帽os. - He鈥檚 going to have children within the next ten years.

  1. The simple future tense is used to say what will happen.

For example:

Ir茅 al cine con mis amigos. - I will go to the cinema with my friends.

Visitar谩 todos los sitios tur铆sticos. - He will visit all of the tourist sites.

Some useful time phrases for talking about future plans include:

tomorrowin the future
next weeknext year
after my examsin the next five years
later on
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How to form the immediate future tense in Spanish

The immediate future tense is the most common way of talking about future plans. It is formed with the present tense of ir (to go), followed by a then the infinitive.

present tense of ir plus a plus infinitive

For example:

Voy a jugar con mis primos. - I鈥檓 going to play with my cousins.

Vamos a salir a las ocho. - We are going to go out at eight.

驴Vais a ir a Francia? - Are you going to go to France?

Look at the table to revise how to conjugate the verb ir:

SpanishEnglish
I am going
you are going
/ he/she is going
you (formal) are going
we are going
you (plural) are going
/ they are going
you (formal plural) are going

The future tense in Spanish - Mini quiz

Icon representing a multiple-choice question with answers A, B and C

Translate the following into Spanish:

I am going to visit Spain.

The immediate future tense with object pronouns

in Spanish go before the verb.

For example:

- I do it.

There are two ways of using object pronouns with the immediate future tense.

  1. Object pronouns can go before the present tense of ir.

For example:

Lo voy a hacer. - I am going to do it.

  1. Object pronouns can also be added to the infinitive.

For example:

Voy a hacerlo. - I am going to do it.

Have a look at these examples and note how the object pronoun can either come before the present tense of ir or it can be attached to the infinitive:

Les voy a escribir or Voy a escribirles. - I am going to write to them.

Daniel me va a invitar a la fiesta or Daniel va a invitar me a la fiesta. - Daniel is going to invite me to the party.

Have a look at the guide on object pronouns to understand more on how to use them with verbs.

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Reflexive verbs in the immediate future tense

All have the se at the end of the infinitive.

For example:

- to wake up

When forming the immediate future of a reflexive verb, use the correct part of ir and attach the correct reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) onto the end of the infinitive of the verb.

For example:

Voy a levantarme temprano. - I am going to get up early.

Mi hermano va a ducharse primero. - My brother is going to shower first.

Vamos a casarnos en el futuro. - We are going to get married in the future.

Have a look at this guide on reflexive pronouns to find out more about how to use them.

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How to form the simple future tense of regular verbs in Spanish

The simple future tense is used to say what will happen and is less common than the immediate future.

To form the simple future tense, add the correct ending to the infinitive of the verb. The endings are the same for ar, er and ir verbs:

ar verbser verbsir verbs
- to study - to learn - to live
- I will study - I will learn - I will live
- you (singular) will study - you (singular) will learn - you (singular) will live
- he/she will study - he/she will learn - he/she will live

For example:

Ma帽ana 肠辞尘别谤茅 m谩s fruta. - Tomorrow, I will eat more fruit.

驴Ir谩s al concierto? - Will you go to the concert?

How to form the simple future tense of irregular stems in Spanish

The simple future of some common Spanish verbs is formed by adding the future endings onto an irregular . High frequency verbs that follow this pattern include:

InfinitiveEnglishStem
to havetendr
to do, makehar
to be able topodr
to putpondr

(there is/are) becomes (there will be)

For example:

Tendr茅 muchos regalos. - I will have lots of presents.

驴Podr谩s ir a la Universidad? - Will you be able to go to university?

Habr谩 un nueve presidente la semana pr贸xima. - There will be a new president next week.

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Quiz - Future tense in Spanish

Practise what you've learned about the future tense in Spanish with this quiz.

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The simple future tense is used to say what will happen and is less common than the immediate future.

To form the simple future tense, add the correct ending to the infinitive of the verb. The endings are the same for -ar, -er and -ir verbs.

The table shows the we, you (plural) and they forms of regular verbs:

ar verbser verbsir verbs
- to study - to learn - to live
- we will study - we will learn - we will live
- you (plural) will study - you (plural) will learn - you (plural) will live
- they will study - they will learn - they will live

For example:

Veremos la nueva pel铆cula. - We will see the new film.

Higher Tier - The simple future tense of verbs with irregular stems

The simple future of some common Spanish verbs is formed by adding the future endings onto an irregular stem. High frequency verbs that follow this pattern include:

infinitiveEnglishstem
to knowsabr-
to wantquerr-
to comevendr-
to saydir-
to go outsaldr-

For example:

Saldr茅 a las tres. - I will go out at three.

Querremos muchos regalos. - We will want lots of presents.

驴Vendr谩s a la fiesta? - Will you come to the party?

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Higher Tier - Quiz - The future tense in Spanish

Practise what you've learned about the future tense in Spanish with this quiz.

Now you've learned about the future tense in Spanish, why not explore the imperfect tense in Spanish?

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More on Future and conditional verbs

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