Comparative Grammar 3.6. Simple Future Tense in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, & French

In this comparative grammar lesson of Romance languages, we study simple future tense in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French. The simple future tense is used to express events in the future.

Table of Contents

• Informal Future Tense
  • Informal Future Tense in Spanish
  • Informal Future Tense in Portuguese
  • Informal Future Tense in French
• Regular Verb Conjugation
  • Regular Verb Conjugation in Spanish
  • Regular Verb Conjugation in Portuguese
  • Regular Verb Conjugation in Italian
  • Regular Verb Conjugation in French
• Irregular Verbs in the Simple Future Tense
  • Irregular Verbs in Spanish
  • Irregular Verbs in Portuguese
  • Irregular Verbs in Italian
  • Irregular Verbs in French
• Examples
• Level III – Elementary

Informal Future Tense

In Spanish, Portuguese, and French, there is an informal but common way to express the future tense in the indicative mood is by using the auxiliary verb “to go.” It is similar in purpose to the English use of the present progressive tense to talk about the future, e.g., “I am going to travel.”

To form the informal future tense, the verb “ir” (to go) can be used in Spanish and Portuguese, and the verb “aller” (to go) in French. Notice that the verb “ir” is followed by prepositional “a” to form the informal future tense in Spanish.

Informal Future Tense in Spanish

		-ar ending e.g., hablar	-er ending e.g., comer	-ir ending e.g., vivir
yo	voy a	hablar	comer	vivir
tú	vas a
él/ella/usted	va a
nosotros/-as	vamos a
vosotros/-as	vais a
ellos/ellas/ustedes	van a

Informal Future Tense in Portuguese

		-ar ending e.g., falar	-er ending e.g., comer	-ir ending e.g., partir
eu	vou	falar	comer	partir
ele/ela/você	vai
nós	vamos
eles/elas/vocês	vão

Informal Future Tense in French

		-er ending e.g., parler	-ir ending e.g., finir	-re ending e.g., vendre
je	vais	parler	finir	vendre
tu	vas
il/elle/on	va
nous	allons
vous	allez
ils/elles	vont

Regular Verb Conjugation

The formal simple future tense is also used to express events in the future and is more common in written literature.

Regular Verb Conjugation in Spanish

The regular verb conjugation uses the infinitive as a stem. Conjugation endings are the same for all three verb groups.

	-ar ending hablar (to speak)	-er ending comer (to eat)	-ir ending vivir (to live)
yo	hablaré	comeré	viviré
tú	hablarás	comerás	vivirás
él/ella/usted	hablará	comerá	vivirá
nosotros/-as	hablaremos	comeremos	viviremos
vosotros/-as	hablaréis	comeréis	viviréis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	hablarán	comerán	vivirán

In addition to expressing events in the future, the simple future tense can also be used to express conjecture or possibility, e.g., “La chica tendrá 15 años” (The girl might be 15 years old), “¿Dónde estará mi celular?” (Where could my cell phone be?).

Another less common use of the simple future tense is giving commands, e.g., “No mentirás” (You shall/will not lie), “Te sentarás acá” (You shall/will sit here).

Regular Verb Conjugation in Portuguese

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)
eu	falarei	comerei	partirei
ele/ela/você	falará	comerá	partirá
nós	falaremos	comeremos	partiremos
eles/elas/vocês	falarão	comerão	partirão

As in Spanish, the simple future tense in Portuguese 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.

Regular Verb Conjugation in Italian

To form the stem of the verb needed for regular verb conjugation, we drop the final “e” of the verb and change the final “-ar” to “-er” in the case of “-are” verbs. The endings are the same for the three types of verbs.

	-are ending parlare (to speak)	-ere ending vendere (to sell)	-ire ending partire (to leave)
io	parlerò	venderò	partirò
tu	parlerai	venderai	partirai
lui/lei	parlerà	venderà	partirà
noi	parleremo	venderemo	partiremo
voi	parlerete	venderete	partirete
loro	parleranno	venderanno	partiranno

In addition to expressing events in the future, the simple future tense can also be used to express conjecture or possibility, e.g., “La ragazza avrà 15 anni” (The girl might be 15 years old), “Dove sarà il mio cellulare?” (Where could my cell phone be?), etc.

Regular Verb Conjugation in French

To form the stem of the verb needed for regular verb conjugation, we use the infinitive as a stem and drop the final “-e” in the case of “-re” verbs. The endings are the same for the three types of verbs.

	-er ending parler (to speak)	-ir ending finir (to finish)	-re ending vendre (to sell)
je	parlerai	finirai	vendrai
tu	parleras	finiras	vendras
il/elle/on	parlera	finira	vendra
nous	parlerons	finirons	vendrons
vous	parlerez	finirez	vendrez
ils/elles	parleront	finiront	vendront

Uses of the simple future tense in French are very similar to that in English. Nevertheless, there are sometimes little differences. For example, in sentences that describe two events occurring in the future linked with “quand” (when) or “dès que” (once), both events are expressed in French using verbs in the simple future tense. While in English we say “I’ll call you when I arrive home,” in French, we would say “Je t’appellerai quand j’arriverai à la maison.” Notice that both verbs “appeler” (to call) and “arriver” (to arrive) are in the future tense.

Irregular Verbs in the Simple Future Tense

Irregular Verbs in Spanish

In Spanish, there are twelve commonly used irregular verbs in the simple future tense:

• Five verbs ending in “-er” and “-ir” drop the “e” or “i” from the infinitive and add a “d.” There are five common verbs in this category: “tener” (to have), “poner” (to put), “valer” (to value or be worth), “venir” (to come), and “salir” (to go outor to exit).

	tener tendr-	poner pondr-	valer valdr-	venir vendr-	salir saldr-
yo	tendré	pondré	valdré	vendré	saldré
tú	tendrás	pondrás	valdrás	vendrás	saldrás
él/ella/usted	tendrá	pondrá	valdrá	vendrá	saldrá
nosotros/-as	tendremos	pondremos	valdremos	vendremos	saldremos
vosotros/-as	tendréis	pondréis	valdréis	vendréis	saldréis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	tendrán	pondrán	valdrán	vendrán	saldrán

• Five verbs ending in “-er” drop the “e” from the infinitive. There are also five common verbs in this category: “saber” (to know), “poder” (can), “caber” (to fit), “querer” (to want), and “haber,” which is an auxiliary verb equivalent to the English auxiliary verb “have.”

	saber sabr-	poder podr-	caber cabr-	querer querr-	haber habr-
yo	sabré	podré	cabré	querré	habré
tú	sabrás	podrás	cabrás	querrás	habrás
él/ella/usted	sabrá	podrá	cabrá	querrá	habrá
nosotros/-as	sabremos	podremos	cabremos	querremos	habremos
vosotros/-as	sabréis	podréis	cabréis	querréis	habréis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	sabrán	podrán	cabrán	querrán	habrán

• The verbs “decir” (to say) and “hacer” (to door to make) change their stem to “dir-” and “har-” to form the simple future tense conjugation. These two verbs are irregular and must be memorized.

	decir dir-	hacer har-
yo	diré	haré
tú	dirás	harás
él/ella/usted	dirá	hará
nosotros/-as	diremos	haremos
vosotros/-as	diréis	haréis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	dirán	harán

Irregular Verbs in Portuguese

In Portuguese, 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-
eu	direi	farei	trarei
ele/ela/você	dirá	fará	trará
nós	diremos	faremos	traremos
eles/elas/vocês	dirão	farão	trarão

Irregular Verbs in Italian

In Italian, there are some verbs that are irregular in the simple future tense, which we attempt to summarize here:

• Some verbs, in addition to dropping the final “e,” drop the vowel before the final “r” from the infinitive to form the stem. For example, the stem from the verb “andare” (to go) becomes “andr-” instead of “andar-.” Other examples from this group are: “avere” (to have), “cadere” (to fall), “dovere” (must), “potere” (can), “sapere” (to know), “vedere” (to see), and “vivere” (to live).

	andare andr-	avere avr-	cadere cadr-	dovere dovr-	potere potr-
io	andrò	avrò	cadrò	dovrò	potrò
tu	andrai	avrai	cadrai	dovrai	potrai
lui/lei	andrà	avrà	cadrà	dovrà	potrà
noi	andremo	avremo	cadremo	dovremo	potremo
voi	andrete	avrete	cadrete	dovrete	potrete
loro	andranno	avranno	cadranno	dovranno	potranno

• Some short verbs with the “-are” ending do not change the “-ar” to “-er” after dropping the final “e” to form the stem. The most common verbs in this group are: “dare” (to give), “fare” (to do or to make), and “stare” (to stay or to be).

	dare dar-	fare far-	stare star-
io	darò	farò	starò
tu	darai	farai	starai
lui/lei	darà	farà	starà
noi	daremo	faremo	staremo
voi	darete	farete	starete
loro	daranno	faranno	staranno

• Some verbs, in addition to dropping the final “e,” replace both the consonant and the vowel preceding the final “r” of the infinitive with an extra “r” to form the stem. For example, the stem from “tenere” (to hold) is “terr-” instead of “tener-.” The most common verbs in this group are: “tenere” (to hold), “volere” (to want), and “venire” (to come).

	tenere terr-	volere vorr-	venire verr-
io	terrò	vorrò	verrò
tu	terrai	vorrai	verrai
lui/lei	terrà	vorrà	verrà
noi	terremo	vorremo	verremo
voi	terrete	vorrete	verrete
loro	terranno	vorranno	verranno

• Some verbs are completely irregular, such as “essere” (to be) and “bere” (to drink), whose stems are “sar-” and “berr-,” respectively.

	essere sar-	bere berr-
io	sarò	berrò
tu	sarai	berrai
lui/lei	sarà	berrà
noi	saremo	berremo
voi	sarete	berrete
loro	saranno	berranno

• Finally, the same orthographic changes applied to verbs ending in “-care,” “-gare,” “-ciare,” “-giare,” and “-gliare” in the present indicative tense are applied here to maintain the proper pronunciation.

Irregular Verbs in French

Here is a list of the most common irregular verbs in the simple future tense in French:

	je	tu	il/elle	nous	vous	ils/elles
aller to go	irai	iras	ira	irons	irez	iront
avoir to have	aurai	auras	aura	aurons	aurez	auront
courir to run	courrai	courras	courra	courrons	courrez	courront
devenir to become	deviendrai	deviendras	deviendra	deviendrons	deviendrez	deviendront
devoir must	devrai	devras	devra	devrons	devrez	devront
envoyer to send	enverrai	enverras	enverra	enverrons	enverrez	enverront
être to be	serai	seras	sera	serons	serez	seront
faire to do	ferai	feras	fera	ferons	ferez	feront
falloir to have to	–	–	faudra	–	–	–
mourir to die	mourrai	mourras	mourra	mourrons	mourrez	mourront
pleuvoir to rain	–	–	pleuvra	–	–	–
recevoir to receive	recevrai	recevras	recevra	recevrons	recevrez	recevront
revenir to return	reviendrai	reviendras	reviendra	reviendrons	reviendrez	reviendront
savoir to know	saurai	sauras	saura	saurons	saurez	sauront
tenir to hold	tiendrai	tiendras	tiendra	tiendrons	tiendrez	tiendront
valoir to be worth	–	–	vaudra	–	–	–
venir to come	viendrai	viendras	viendra	viendrons	viendrez	viendront
voir to take	verrai	verras	verra	verrons	verrez	verront
vouloir to want	voudrai	voudras	voudra	voudrons	voudrez	voudront

There are some verbs that undergo minor spelling changes. Here are some common examples:

	je	tu	il/elle	nous	vous	ils/elles
employer to hire	emploierai	emploieras	emploiera	emploierons	emploierez	emploieront
essuyer to wipe	essuierai	essuieras	essuiera	essuierons	essuierez	essuieront
nettoyer to clean	nettoierai	nettoieras	nettoiera	nettoierons	nettoierez	nettoieront
acheter to buy	achèterai	achèteras	achètera	achèterons	achèterez	achèteront
appeler to call	appellerai	appelleras	appellera	appellerons	appellerez	appelleront
jeter to throw	jetterai	jetteras	jettera	jetterons	jetterez	jetteront

Examples

Here are some examples that use the simple future tense:

SP	Iré a Italia el año que viene.	I will go to Italy next year.
PT	Irei para a Itália no próximo ano.
IT	L’anno prossimo andrò in Italia.
FR	J’irai en Italie l’année prochaine.
SP	No iré al gimnasio hoy.	I won’t go to the gym today.
PT	Não irei à academia amanhã.
IT	Oggi non andrò in palestra.
FR	Je n’irai pas à la gym aujourd’hui.
SP	Ella comprará una casa en Roma.	She will buy a house in Rome.
PT	Ela comprará uma casa em Roma.
IT	Lei comprerà una casa a Roma.
FR	Elle achètera une maison à Rome.
SP	Estudiarás mucho sólo este fin de semana.	You will study hard only this weekend.
PT	Você estudará muito apenas neste fim de semana.
IT	Studierai duramente solo questo fine settimana.
FR	Tu étudieras dur seulement ce week-end.
SP	Ellos vivirán en una pequeña ciudad.	They will live in a small city.
PT	Eles viverão em uma cidade pequena.
IT	Vivranno in una piccola città.
FR	Ils vivront dans une petite ville.
SP	Mañana dormiremos todo el día.	We will sleep all day tomorrow.
PT	Dormiremos o dia todo amanhã.
IT	Dormiremo tutto il giorno domani.
FR	Nous dormirons toute la journée demain.

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