The Future Tense
1. Forms of the future tense.
Endings. The endings for all verbs are:
-é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án
Note that every one except the “nosotros” form requires a written
accent.
To conjugate : In the “Futuro”, the verb stays in the infinitive, and you just add
the endings to it.
Samples:
hablar
comer
vivir
hablaré hablaremos comeré comeremos viviré viviremos
hablarás hablaréis
comerás comeréis
vivirás viviréis
hablará hablarán
comerá comerán
vivirá vivirán
Verbs with irregular future stems: Exceptions
to say
decir dirhaber habr- there to be [impersonal]; to have [helping verb]
hacer har- to make, do
poder podr- to be able
poner pondr- to put, place, set
querer querr- to want, love
saber sabr- to know [a fact], know how [+ infinitive]
salir saldr- to leave, go out
tener tendr- to have
valer valdr- to be worth
venir vendr- to come
(*The new stem is used in all forms)
Samples:
Enrique nos dirá la verdad.
¿Quiénes vendrán conmigo?
Pondré la mesa en seguida.
Enrique will tell us the truth.
Who will come with me?
I'll set the table right away.
2. Usage. There are two main ways in which the future tense is used in Spanish:
A. It indicates future time, the same as in English.
Mañana saldremos para Madrid. Tomorrow we will leave for Madrid.
I'll go to the hospital on Monday.
El lunes iré al hospital.
B. NOTE: The present tense is often used instead of the future for near
future actions:
Esta noche miramos la televisión. Tonight we'll watch TV.
I'll do it in two minutes.
Lo hago en dos minutos.
C. The future tense is also used to indicate conjecture or probability in
the present time. In English, expressions such as “probably”, “must”,
“I/you think” are usually used rather than the future tense.
¿Dónde estará María? Where do you think Mary is (right now)?
She is probably at home.
Estará en casa.
What time is it?
¿Qué hora es?
It must be 8:00. (Or: It is probably 8:00, I think it's 8:00,
Serán las ocho.
etc.)
3. The periphrastic future: Ir a + the infinitive. A present tense form of the
verb ir (to go) plus the preposition a plus an infinitive is often used as a
substitute for the future tense in Spanish. The same phenomenon also occurs in
English:
¿Vas a estudiar mañana? Are you going to study tomorrow?
I'm not going to do anything.
No voy a hacer nada.
4. When “will” is used in the sense of “to be willing to” it is normally translated
by the verb querer (to want), not the future tense. This frequently occurs in
requests which suggest the idea “would you like to” or “would you be willing
to”:
¿Quiere Ud. apagar el cigarrillo? Will you put out your cigarrette?
¿Quieres sacar la basura, Juan? Will you take out the trash, John?