Spanish Simple Future Tense
There are two ways to form the future tense in Spanish.
1.
The informal future: ( Ir [conjugated] + a + infinitive)
Ie: Voy a comer después de bañarme.
Voy (Ir conjugated to Yo form) + a + comer (infinitive)…
I will eat after bathing myself.
2.
The simple future: which is expressed in a single word, is used to talk about what
will or shall happen. It is also used to express the possibility of what someone
might or may be doing in the present.
The simple future tense: (Infinitive of the verb + add corresponding ending)
* All verb conjugations ( -ar, -er, -ir) have the same endings in the simple future.
Yo
Infinitive + é
Nosotros
Infinitive + emos
Tú
Infinitive + ás
Vosotros
—————————
Él/Ella/Ud. Infinitive + á
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. Infinitive + án
Ie: Yo comeré después de bañarme.
Yo comeré (comer infinitive + é) después de bañarme.
I will eat after bathing myself.
Uses of the Simple Future
1.
Conjectures, possibilities and probabilities: Things that may be or are
probably true.
Ie: Anita estará en la playa ahora.
Anita is probably at the beach right now.
Ie: Los niños tendrán hambre.
The children might be hungry.
Ie: Serán las ocho de la mañana.
It must be eight o’clock in the morning.
2.
Predictions about the Future: (Self explanatory)
Ie: Me casaré con un hombre guapo.
I will marry a handsome man.
Ie: Encontrará un trabajo bueno.
He will find a good job.
3.
Solemn commands: It’s not very common, but this is a way to use this tense.
Ie: No robarás.
You shall/will not steal.
Ie: Obedecerás a tus abuelos.
You shall/will obey your grandparents.
* The simple future can also be used in conditional sentences with “si” (if) to talk
about what someone will do.
In sentences like this, the verb immediately after “si” is in the present tense,
while the verb in the other part of the sentence is in the simple future.
Ie: Si tengo tiempo, saldré a correr en la tarde.
Si (if) tengo (present tense) tiempo, saldré (simple future) a correr en la tarde.
If I have time, I’ll leave to go running this afternoon.
BEWARE- THE IRREGULARS!!
The simple future tense has both regular and irregular verbs! Luckily, there aren’t too
many irregular verbs. All irregular verbs fall into 1 of 3 categories!
- Those that drop the e or i from the infinitive ending and add a d
- Those that simply drop the e or the i from the infinitive ending
- Those that don’t follow any predictable patter & you just have to memorize.
Verbs that drop the e or i from the infinitive and add a d
*Only -er & -ir verbs fall into this category.
To form the future with these verbs, simply remove the e or i from the infinitive
ending, add a d, and then add the corresponding simple future ending.
Ie: Yo tendré mi tarea mañana.
Tener > (drop e or i) ten_r > (add d) tendr > (add simple ending) tendré
I’ll have my homework tomorrow.
Ie: Tener (v.) “to have”
Tener > (-e): ten_r > (+d)= tendr > tendr (+ endings)…
Yo
Tendr + é
Nosotros
Tendr + emos
Tú
Tendr + ás
Vosotros
—————————
Él/Ella/Ud. Tendr + á
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. Tendr + án
The other verbs like Tener:
Poner (to put)
Pondr +
Yo pondré, Tú pondrás, Ud. pondrá, Nos. pondremos, Uds. pondrán
Valer (to be worth) Valdr +
Yo valdré, Tú valdrás, Ud. valdrá, Nos. valdremos, Uds. valdrán
Salir (to leave)
Saldr +
Yo saldré, Tú saldrás, Ud. saldrá, Nos. saldremos, Uds. saldrán
Venir (to come)
Vendr +
Yo vendré, Tú vendrás, Ud. vendrá, Nos. vendremos, Uds. vendrán
Verbs that simply drop the e or i from the infinitive
*Only -er verbs fall into this category.
To form the future with these verbs, simply remove the e or i from the infinitive
ending, and then add the corresponding simple future ending.
Ie: Yo podré hablar ruso muy pronto.
Poder > (drop e or i) podr > (add simple ending) podré
I’ll be able to speak Russian very soon.
Ie: Poder (v.) “to be able to”
Poder > (-e): pod_r > podr (+ endings)…
Yo
Podr + é
Nosotros
Podr + emos
Tú
Podr + ás
Vosotros
—————————
Él/Ella/Ud. Podr + á
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. Podr + án
The other verbs like Poder:
Caber (to fit)
Cabr +
Yo cabré, Tú cabrás, Ud. cabrá, Nos. cabremos, Uds. cabrán
Haber (to have)
Habr +
Yo habré, Tú habrás, Ud. habrá, Nos. habremos, Uds. habrán
Saber (to know)
Sabr +
Yo sabré, Tú sabrás, Ud. sabrá, Nos. sabremos, Uds. sabrán
Querer (to want)
*(or to love)
Querr +
Yo querré, Tú querrás, Ud. querrá, Nos. querremos, Uds. querrán
- Soy pequeña. Cabré en el asiento central. No te preocupes.
I’m small. I will fit in the middle seat. Don’t you worry.
- ¡Habrás cometido un pecado imperdonable!
You will have committed an unforgivable sin!
- Nosotros sabremos mucho más en tres meses.
We will know a lot more in three months.
- Todo lo que él querrá es estar cerca de ti.
All he will want is to be close to you.
- De lo único que estoy seguro es de que siempre te querré.
The only thing that I am sure of is that I’ll love you always.
Irregular Verbs that you just have to memorize…
* The verbs decir (to say) and hacer (to make / to do) have irregular stems that you just
have to memorize. They suck. But that’s ok. There’s only two of them that you really
need to know… sort of.
Verbs that have either of these two verbs as their root Ie: pre[decir] (to predict) and
re[hacer] (to redo), follow the same conjugation patterns as decir and hacer in the
simple future.
Decir (v.) “to say”
Yo
Diré
Nosotros
Diremos
Tú
Dirás
Vosotros
—————————
Él/Ella/Ud. Dirá
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. Dirán
Hacer (v.) “to make / to do”
Yo
Haré
Nosotros
Haremos
Tú
Harás
Vosotros
—————————
Él/Ella/Ud. Hará
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. Harán
The other irregular verbs:
Predecir
(to predict)
Pre[dir] + Yo prediré, Tú predirás, Ud. predirá, Nos. prediremos, Uds. predirán
Rehacer
(to redo)
Re[har] + Yo reharé, Tú reharás, Ud. rehará, Nos. reharemos, Uds. reharán
- Yo diré que a veces en la vida, las personas obtienen exactamente lo que merecen.
I will say that sometimes in life, people get exactly what they deserve.
- Haré lo que normalmente hago, y tú harás lo que normalmente hacés.
I will do what I normally do, and you will do what you normally do.
- La bruja predirá el futuro de Juan Carlos y se hará realidad.
The witch will predict the future of Juan Carlos and it will come true.
- Los estudiantes reharán sus tareas y entenderán mejor el tema.
The students will redo their assignments and will understand the topic better.