Portuguese 2.4. Future Tense

Level I 1. Alphabet & Pronunciation 1.1. Vowels 2. Similarities to English 2.1. Capitalization 2.2. Negation 2.3. Punctuation & Written Accents 3. Gender & Plural 4. Cardinal Numbers 5. Subject Personal Pronouns 6. Present Indicative Tense I 7. The Articles 8. Interrogative Pronouns & Adjectives 9. Basic Phrases Level II 1. Prepositions 2. Present Indicative Tense II – Irregular Verbs 3. The Verb “To Be”: “Ser” vs. “Estar” 4. Future Tense 5. Possessive Adjectives & Pronouns 6. Demonstrative Adjectives & Pronouns 7. Object Personal Pronouns 8. Relative Pronouns 9. Ordinal Numbers I 10. Times & Seasons Level III 1. “Por” vs. “Para” 2. The Verb “To Know”: “Saber” vs. “Conhecer” 3. Indefinite Adjectives & Pronouns 4. Present Progressive Tense 5. Present Perfect Tense 6. Special Uses of “Haver” & “Ter” 7. Telling Time & Describing Weather 8. Adverbs 9. Directions Level IV 1. Degrees of Comparison: Comparatives & Superlatives 2. Past Tense: Preterite vs. Imperfect 3. Conjunctions 4. Reflexive Pronouns & Verbs 5. Time Expressions: Ainda, Já, Acabar, and Desde 6. Present Subjunctive Tense 7. Future Perfect Tense Level V 1. Imperative Mood & Giving Commands 2. Simple Conditional Tense 3. Future Subjunctive Tense 4. Perfect Subjunctive Tense 5. Imperfect Subjunctive Tense 6. Past & Conditional Progressive Tenses 7. Interjections Level VI 1. Ordinal Numbers II 2. “Would/Should/Could Have …” 3. Pluperfect Indicative Tense 4. Pluperfect Subjunctive Tense 5.”Although” & “Despite” 6. Passive Voice & Impersonal “Se” 7. Diminutives & Augmentatives
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One informal but common way to express the future tense in the indicative mood is by using the auxiliary verb “ir” (to go) to form “ir + infinitive.”

For example, “Eu vou viajar” literally means “I go travel, but it is similar in purpose to the English expression “I am going to travel.

To form the informal future tense, “ir” can be used only in the simple present tense.

  -ar ending
e.g., falar
-er ending
e.g., comer
-ir ending
e.g., partir
euvoufalarcomerpartir
ele/ela/vocêvai
nósvamos
eles/elas/vocêsvão

Simple Future Tense

The formal simple future tense is also used to express events in the future and is more common in written literature. The regular verb conjugation uses the infinitive as a stem. Conjugation endings are the same for all three verb groups.

 -ar ending
falar (to speak)
-er ending
comer (to eat)
-ir ending
partir (to live)
eufalareicomereipartirei
ele/ela/vocêfalarácomerápartirá
nósfalaremoscomeremospartiremos
eles/elas/vocêsfalarãocomerãopartirão

In addition to expressing events in the future, the simple future tense can also be used to express conjecture or possibility, e.g., “A menina terá 15 anos” (The girl might be 15 years old), “Onde estará meu celular?” (Where could my cell phone be?).

Another less common use of the simple future tense is giving commands, e.g., “Não mentirá” (You shall/will not lie), “Sentará aqui” (You shall/will sit here), etc.

Irregular Verbs

The verbs “dizer” (to say), “fazer” (to do), and “trazer” (to bring) change their stem to “dir-,” “far-,” and “trar-,” respectively, to form the simple conditional tense conjugation. These three verbs are irregular and must be memorized.

 dizer
dir-
fazer
far-
trazer
trar-
eudireifareitrarei
ele/ela/vocêdiráfarátrará
nósdiremosfaremostraremos
eles/elas/vocêsdirãofarãotrarão

Examples

Below are some examples that use the simple future tense:

Viajarei para Londres no mês que vem.I will travel to London next month.
Não irei à academia amanhã.I will not go to the gym tomorrow.
Você estudará para a prova.You will study for the exam.
Moraremos em uma cidade pequena.We will live in a small city.
Eles dormirão o dia todo.They will sleep all day.
Direi a verdade se me perguntarem.I will tell the truth if they ask me.

Next: Possessive Adjectives & Pronouns

Back to: Portuguese Lessons

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