I will never forget my first time in Spain. I had been studying Spanish for years and finally was going to test out my skills. I was so excited to be there that my excitement literally impaired my ability to remember the future tense in Spanish! The easiest verb conjugation in the language and and I just drew a blank.
Luckily for me, there is more than one way to get your point across and I was saved the embarrassment of totally forgetting how to conjugate an entire tense. In Spanish, there are actually two ways to create the future tense, which was a lifesaver to me! These forms include:
- The informal future (ir + a + infinitive)
- The simple future
The Informal Future
Using the conjugated Ir + a + infinitive, this translates into going to do something. For example:
Voy a comer | I am going to eat |
Vas a beber agua | You are going to drink water |
This informal tense simply indicates that a person is going to do something soon or in the future. I used this format constantly when I was living in Spain and was able to get my point across just fine. Although it is considered “informal,” people use it consistently.
Simple Future Forms
The simple future indicates someone “will” do something in the future. Conjugating this tense is super easy because all you have to do is add the appropriate ending to the infinitive of a verb.
é | emos |
ás | éis |
á | án |
Simple Future "will" | |
|---|---|
Ella estará hablando con su novio mañana | (She may be talking to her boyfriend tomorrow) |
Jugaremos para el equipo nacional de fútbol | (We will play for the national soccer team) |
Llorarás al final de la película. | (You will cry at the end of the movie.) |
Making Assumptions About the Present
There are other uses of the simple future that make predictions about the present time as well. It offers a guess about something since it is unknown at the time. It “probably” will happen.
Simple Future "probably" | |
|---|---|
Mis niños tendrán hambre ahora. | (My children might be hungry now.) |
Juan estará en la playa. | (Juan is probably at the beach.) |
¿Dónde estarán mis llaves? | (Where could my keys be?) |
Giving Commands
Although not very common, giving solemn commands is another way to use the simple future. For example:
Simple Future: Giving Commands | |
|---|---|
No robarás. | (You shall not steal.) |
Te sentarás aquí hasta que regrese. | (You shall sit right here until I return.) |
If you're still a little confused then check out this quick video from MaestroKaplan's YouTube Channel:
As you can see, the future tense, both informal and simple, is one of the easier tenses to conjugate. Used to express the future, either by going to do something, will do something, or probably will do something, this tense is pretty easy to express.
Any questions? Ask away! Simply ask your question in the comment box below and we will be happy to answer it!
Don’t forget to keep practicing. Now that you can use the future tense, find someone to practice with. You got this! Keep up the great job!
