In Spanish, the future tense is an extremely easy tense to use because it is created by a special verb conjugation. The first step to understanding the Spanish future tense is to realize that its structure is completely different than it is in English. A Spanish verb in the future tense is only one word, whereas in English the future tense requires at least two words: “will” or “shall,” which are placed in front of the verb in an affirmative sentence; in a negative sentence, the English future tense requires that “will not” or “shall not” precede the verb. To confuse matters, English speakers also have many colloquial methods of creating the future tense. The expressions “going to” or “gonna” are often used in affirmative sentences, and “won't” or “not gonna” are often used in negative sentences. The future in Spanish is much more clear and simple. It is simply a matter of learning to conjugate the verb in the future tense forms. There are no tricky helping verbs or confusing slang expressions as there are in English.
Using the future tense in sentences
The future tense is used in sentences when the action of the verb will happen in the future. There are many ways to express this in English, and they all require more than one word. Here are several examples of the future tense in English in simple affirmative and negative sentences.
I shall study. He will not study.
I'll study. He won't study.
I am going to study. He is not going to study.
I'm gonna study. He's not gonna study.
Here's an English grammar tidbit for you to note: You may be surprised to find that it is grammatically correct to use “shall” instead of “will” as the helping verb to create the future tense when the subject of the sentence is “I” or “we.”
Any of the above sentences can be written in Spanish by using the future tense conjugation of the verb.
Yo estudiaré. Él no estudiará.
Do not get confused by the English words “will,” “won't,” or “gonna.” Just conjugate the verb in the future tense form to go with the subject. No helping verb is necessary, and a negative sentence in Spanish simply places the word
no in front of the conjugated verb.
There is another way in Spanish to indicate that the action of the verb is in the future without using the future tense. The formula you use is:
present tense of the verb
ir +
a + infinitive.
This formula is illustrated in the following sentences, which are followed by their English equivalents.
Yo voy a estudiar. Él no va a estudiar.
I shall study. (I'm going to study.) He will not study. (He's not going to study.)
Because this method requires only the ability to conjugate the verb
ir in the present tense, students of Spanish use it often until they learn to use the actual future tense. In reality, it does not matter whether you use the actual future tense or the “
ir +
a + infinitive” formula.
Regular verbs
So far, all the tenses for which we have learned the conjugated forms have required that we remove the infinitive ending. That means that you must remove the -
ar, -
er, or -
ir ending from the verb before adding the appropriate ending for the form and tense.
The future tense is unusual because the endings for each form are added to the entire infinitive. Because the entire infinitive is used, there is no need for three different conjugation charts for the three different kinds of infinitives (-
ar, -er, and
-ir verbs). The verb endings in Table
1 are added to the infinitive of any regular verb to create the future tense. The 12 verbs that are irregular in the future tense are presented in the next section, so for now, just remember to use the entire infinitive plus the endings in Table
1 .
TABLE 1
Future Tense Verb Endings
Subject
Ending
Subject
Ending
yo
-é
nosotros/nosotras
-emos
tú
-ás
vosotros/vosotras
-éis
él
-á
ellos
-án
ella
-á
ellas
-án
usted
-á
ustedes
-án
Notice that all the future tense endings have an accent except for the
nosotros/nosotras form.
Now look over Table
2 , Table
3 , and Table
4 . These serve as examples of verb conjugation charts for regular -
ar, -
er, and -
ir verbs. Notice that the exact same endings are used for all three types of verbs in the future tense.
TABLE 2
A Regular -
ar Verb in the Future Tense
Subject
Verb
Subject
Verb
yo
hablaré
nosotros/nosotras
hablaremos
tú
hablarás
vosotros/vosotras
hablaréis
él
hablará
ellos
hablarán
ella
hablará
ellas
hablarán
usted
hablará
ustedes
hablarán
TABLE 3
A Regular -
er Verb in the Future Tense
Subject
Verb
Subject
Verb
yo
comeré
nosotros/nosotras
comeremos
tú
comerás
vosotros/vosotras
comeréis
él
comerá
ellos
comerán
ella
comerá
ellas
comerán
usted
comerá
ustedes
comerán
TABLE 4
A Regular -
ir Verb in the Future Tense
Subject
Verb
Subject
Verb
yo
escribiré
nosotros/nosotras
escribiremos
tú
escribirás
vosotros/vosotras
escribiréis
él
escribirá
ellos
escribirán
ella
escribirá
ellas
escribirán
usted
escribirá
ustedes
escribirán
Irregular verbs
The good news is that the same endings used to create the future tense of regular verbs are used to create the future tense of irregular verbs. What makes a verb irregular in the future tense is that the infinitive must be changed before you add the future tense ending. There are only 12 basic verbs that are irregular in the future tense. The irregularities for the “dirty dozen” follow certain patterns that make them easier to memorize.
Five irregular verbs simply drop the
e of the infinitive (see Table
5 ).
TABLE 5
The Irregular Verbs That Drop the
e of the Infinitive
Infinitive
Changes to …
Future Tense Ending
saber (to know)
sabr-
yo sabré (I shall know)
querer (to want)
querr-
tú querrás (you will want)
poder (to be able)
podr-
él podrá (he will be able)
haber (helping verb)
habr-
ellas habrán (they will have)
caber (to fit)
cabr-
Uds. cabrán (you all will fit)
Most often,
haber is conjugated to go with the subject and is used with a past participle to create the perfect tenses. Since you have just learned to conjugate
haber in the future tense, you will be able to create the future perfect tense.
Five other irregulars change the last vowel of the infinitive to the letter
d. These are called “
e to
d, i to
d oddities” and are shown in Tables
7 and
8 .
TABLE 7
The Irregular Verbs That Change the Vowel of the Infinitive to
d
Infinitive
Changes to …
Future Tense Ending
venir (to come)
vendr-
yo vendré (I shall come)
valer (to be worth)
valdr-
él valdrá (he will be worth)
tener (to have)
tendr-
Eva tendrá (Eva will have)
salir (to leave)
saldr-
tú saldrás (you will leave)
poner (to put)
pondr-
ellos pondrán (they will put)
TABLE 8
The Future Tense of an Irregular Verb That Changes the Vowel of the Infinitive to
d
Subject
Verb
Subject
Verb
yo
tendré
nosotros/nosotras
tendremos
tú
tendrás
vosotros/vosotras
tendréis
él
tendrá
ellos
tendrán
ella
tendrá
ellas
tendrán
usted
tendrá
ustedes
tendrán
The final two verbs are irregular in the future tense because they drop the letters
e and
c from the infinitive. Notice in tables
9 and
10 that the
e and
c are not in the same order for both verbs:
TABLE 9
The Irregular Verbs That Drop
e and
c from the Infinitive
Infinitive
Changes to …
Future Tense Ending
decir (to say, to tell)
dir-
túdirás (you will tell)
hacer (to make, to do)
har-
yoharé (I will make)
TABLE 10
The Future Tense of an Irregular Verb That Drops the
e and
c of the Infinitive
Subject
Verb
Subject
Verb
yo
diré
nosotros/nosotras
diremos
tú
dirás
vosotros/vosotras
diréis
él
dirá
ellos
dirán
ella
dirá
ellas
dirán
usted
dirá
ustedes
dirán
Don't forget that there are several verbs that add a prefix to a basic verb (see Table
11 ). For example, the verb
imponer is the verb
poner with a prefix. These verbs are conjugated exactly like the basic verb without the prefix (but have a totally new meaning). The following verbs are irregular in the future tense because they are based on one of the “dirty dozen.”
TABLE 11
Verbs That Add a Prefix to a Basic Irregular Verb
Infinitive
Changes to …
Future Tense Ending
suponer (to suppose)
supondr-
yo supondré (I'll suppose)
imponer (to impose)
impondr-
tú impondrás (you'll impose)
componer (to compose)
compondr-
Carlos compondrá (Carlos will compose)
disponer (to dispose)
dispondr-
Cristina y yo dispondremos (Cristina and I will dispose)
Did you notice that most of the “
poner verbs” are easy to recognize if you change the
n to
s? For example,
imponer means “to impose” and
componer means “to compose.” Look at the conjugation chart in Table
12
Antonyms and Synonyms
New Verb Tenses