Download Future Tense

Future Tense
As the name implies the Future Tense expresses time in the future. In English this is
done through the words "will" or "shall".
I will be there tomorrow.
What will he say?
I will see you at the party.
We shall wait for five minutes.
Shall sounded odd, didn't it? This is because the standard rules of English relating to will
and shall are rarely observed. These rules say that 1st person singular (I) and plural (we)
use "shall" and all other persons use "will" in the Future Tense. For all practical purposes
colloquial English uses "will" for all persons.
The good news is that you already know everything that you need to know about how to
create the Future Tense for regular verbs.
The Future Tense is formed by using the entire infinitive as the stem and then adding the
present tense of the verb haber without the "h" as the endings. Look at the present tense
of haber and then the endings for the Future Tense.
Present of haber
he
has
ha
hemos
habéis
han
Future Endings
é
ás
á
emos
éis
án
Except for the vosotros form, the endings are the same, but without the h. Notice also
that there is an accent on all persons except nosotros.
Look at the verbs ir and hablar.
iré
irás
irá
iremos
iréis
irán
I will go
you will go
he will go
we will go
you (pl, fam) will go
they will go
hablaré
hablarás
hablará
hablaremos
hablaréis
hablarán
I will speak
you will speak
he will speak
we will speak
you (pl, fam) will speak
they will speak
There is no difference between –ar, –er, or –ir verbs. Just use the entire infinitive plus the
endings.
There are 12 irregular verbs in the Future Tense. They all use regular endings, but have
irregular stems. The following are the irregular verbs, their irregular stems and an
example in 1st and 2nd persons. All other persons work the same.
Infinitive
Stem
Conjugation
caber (to fit):
decir (to say):
haber (to have):
hacer (to make, do):
querer (to want):
poder (to be able):
poner (to put):
saber (to know):
salir (to leave):
tener (to have):
valer (to be worth):
venir (to come):
cabr
dir
habr
har
querr
podr
pondr
sabr
saldr
tendr
valdr
vendr
cabré, cabrás, cabrá, cabremos, cabréis, cabrán
diré, dirás, ...
habré, habrás, ...
haré, harás, ...
querré, querrás, ...
podré, podrás, ...
pondré, pondrás, ...
sabré, sabrás, ...
saldré, saldrá, ...
tendré, tendrás
valdré, valdrás, ...
vendré, vendrás, ...
Notice that haber can be put in the Future Tense. In fact any auxilliary (helping) verb
can be put in the Future Tense. This can form additional variations in time. But they are
not difficult if you simply take them word for word as they are in English..
He has studied
He will have studied
Ha estudiado
Habrá estudiado
I am leaving
I will be leaving
Estoy saliendo
Estaré saliendo
I have had
I will have had
He tenido
Habré tenido
They have been seeing
They will have been seeing
Han estado viendo
Habrán estado viendo
Not only is the Future Tense used to express the future, it can also be used to express
probability. In fact the word probablemente is not used as much in Spanish as it is in
English. Look at the following examples.
Probablemente va mañana.
Irá mañana.
He is probably going tomorrow.
He is probably going tomorrow.
Finally the Future Tense is used to express obligation.
Comerás tus legumbres.
You will eat your vegetables.