The Spanish future tense is most often used to refer to events that have not happened yet, just as we employ the word "will" (he will eat, we will go, they will call, etc) in English. There are also a couple of other uses, which we'll get to a bit later.
Forming the Spanish Future Tense
One of the best parts about the future tense is that it is without a doubt the easiest tense to conjugate. Why? Because all three types of verbs (-ar, -er and -ir) utilize the same endings; those endings are attached right on to the end of the infinitive (the original, unconjugated verb).
Notice in the table below that the very same endings are tacked on to the end of all three types of infinitives (in this case, the infinitives are amar, vender, and dormir).
|Future tense endings||-ar verbs|
AMAR (to love)
VENDER (to sell)
DORMIR (to sleep)
I will love
I will sell
you will sell
you will sleep
he/she will love
he/she will sell
he/she will sleep
we will love
we will sell
we will sleep
you all will love
you all will sell
you all will sleep
they will love
they will sell
they will sleep
When to Use the Spanish Future Tense
The Spanish future tense is used...
- To refer to events in the future.
- El año que viene, viajarán a Argentina. (Next year they will travel to Argentina.)
- Iré al gimnasio mañana por la mañana. (I will go to the gym tomorrow morning.)
- To indicate probability or likelihood.
- Serán las doce. (It's probably 12 o'clock.)
- Estará leyendo. (She's most likely reading.)
- To convey an intense command.
- Comerás las vegetales. (You WILL eat your vegetables.)
- Volverás a casa antes de las 12. (You WILL come home before 12 o'clock)
Irregular Verbs in the Spanish Future Tense
Irregular verbs are, in a nutshell, those verbs which don't quite follow the same rules as other regular verbs. While regular verbs are conjugated into the future tense by taking the infinitive and adding the endings, those same endings are added on to a slightly altered root with irregular verbs. Below you'll find a few of the most commonly used irregular verbs in the future tense:
- decir (to say): diré, dirás, dirá, dirámos, diráis, dirán
- poder (to be able): podré, podrás...
- poner (to put): pondré, pondrás...
- querer (to want): querré, querrás...
- saber (to know): sabré, sabrás...
- salir (to go out): saldré, saldrás...
- tener (to have): tendré, tendrás...
- venir (to come): vendré, vendrás...
Keep in mind that irregular verbs in the future tense are generally also irregular in the conditional tense.