One informal but common way in Spanish to express the future tense in the indicative mood is by using the auxiliary verb “ir” (to go) to form “ir + a + infinitive.” For example, “Yo voy a viajar,” literally means “I go to 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., 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 |
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 is the same for all verb endings. Different endings must only agree with the subject pronoun.
In addition to expressing events in the future, the simple future tense can express conjecture or possibility. For example, “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. For example, “No mentirás” (You shall/will not lie), “Te sentarás acá” (You shall/will sit here).
Irregular Verbs
There are a few irregular verbs in the simple future tense, but only twelve are common, which we will discuss here.
1. Some 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 |
2. Some 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 |
3. 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:
| 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 |
Quiz: Simple Future Tense in Spanish
Next: Possessive Adjectives & Pronouns
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