Spanish Grammar in Context

A reference grammar with video examples from the Spanish in Texas collection

  • Credits
  • Index
  • About
  • Home
  • Adjectives
    • Introduction to Adjectives
    • Adjectives – Formation and Placement
    • Comparisons and Superlatives with Adjectives
    • Past Participles as Adjectives
    • Todo
    • Indefinite Adjectives
    • Adjectives Practice
  • Adverbs
    • Introduction to Adverbs
    • Adverbs – Formation and Placement
    • Comparative Adverbs
    • Adverbs Practice
  • Conjunctions
    • Introduction to Conjunctions
    • Coordinating Conjunctions
    • Subordinating Conjunctions
    • Conjunctions Practice
  • Determiners
    • Introduction to Determiners
    • Definite Articles
    • Indefinite Articles
    • Possessive Determiners
    • Demonstrative Determiners
    • Expressions of Quantity
    • Determiners Practice
  • Negation
    • Introduction to Negation
    • Basic Negation: No
    • Alternate Forms of Negation
    • One-word Negative Sentences
    • Negation Practice
  • Nouns
    • Introduction to Nouns
    • Nouns – Number
    • Nouns – Gender
    • Nouns Practice
  • Prepositions
    • Introduction to Prepositions
    • Common Prepositions
    • Por vs. Para
    • Prepositions Practice
  • Pronouns
    • Introduction to Pronouns
    • Subject Pronouns
    • Direct Object Pronouns
    • Indirect Object Pronouns
    • Reflexive Pronouns
    • Order of Object Pronouns
    • Relative Pronouns
    • Indefinite Pronouns
    • Demonstrative Pronouns
    • Possessive Pronouns
    • Pronouns Practice
  • Verbs
    • Introduction to Verbs
    • Tense/Mood
    • Introduction to Present Tense
      • -ar Verbs (Regular) Present Tense
      • -er Verbs (Regular) Present Tense
      • -ir Verbs (Regular) Present Tense
    • Ser “To Be”
    • Haber “To Have”
    • Reflexive Verbs
    • Preterit
    • Present Perfect
    • Imperfect
    • Narration: Preterit vs. Imperfect
    • Pluperfect
    • Future
    • Conditional
    • Past Conditional
    • Imperative Mood (commands)
    • Introduction to Subjunctive
      • Subjunctive – Present
      • Subjunctive – Past or Imperfect
      • Subjunctive – Present Perfect
      • Subjunctive – Pluperfect
      • Tense Sequences
    • Si Clauses (If Clauses)
    • Indirect Speech
      • Indirect Speech – Present
      • Indirect Speech – Past
    • Passive Voice
    • Language Contact
    • Verbs Practice
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Practice quizzes: verbs

Future

Future

Future tense forms from the Spanish in Texas Corpus

In general, the future tenses in Spanish and in English are used similarly to talk about future actions and events. The Spanish future tense is generally translated into English with the modal auxiliary will. In Spanish the future tense can be formed in two different ways: the simple future (or synthetic future) and the periphrastic future (ir + a + infinitive).

Simple Future or Synthetic Future

The simple future (or synthetic future) is so-named because it is a one-word tense.

Form

The future is conjugated by taking the infinitive and adding the appropriate endings as in the following table:

hablar  to speak
yo hablaré nosotros/as hablaremos
tú hablarás  
él/ella/usted hablará ellos/as/ustedes hablarán
¿Cómo crees que será?
What do you think it will be like?

Stem Changers

Some verbs are irregular in the future and do not use the infinitive as the stem to form the simple future. Some examples are:

  • Tener and its compounds (mantener, obtener, etc.): tendré, tendrás, tendrá, mantendremos, obtendrán, etc.
  • Haber: habrá
  • Venir: vendré, vendrás, vendrá, etc.
  • Decir: diré, dirás, dirá, etc.
  • Hacer: haré, harás, hará, etc.
  • Poner: pondré, pondrás, pondrá, etc.
  • Salir: saldré, saldrás, saldrá, etc.
  • Poder: podré, podrás, podrá, etc.
  • Querer: querré, querrás, querrá, etc.
  • Saber: sabré, sabrás, sabrá, etc.
¿Crees que algún día tendrás hijos?
Do you think that you will have children some day?

Possibility or Uncertainty

In in addition to describing the future, the synthetic future (but not the periphrastic future) can also be used to make predictions or guesses about the present.

Tenía un sabor diferente que lo de aquí. Será por los ingredientes locales que usan o no sé qué, pero tenía un sabor diferente.
It tasted different compared to the one you find here. It might be because of the local ingredients that they use or something else, but it tasted different.

Periphrastic Future

The periphrastic future is formed using the present tense of the auxiliar verb ir (to go) followed by the preposition a plus the infinitive of the main verb.

hablar  to speak
yo voy a hablar nosotros/as vamos a hablar
tú vas a hablar  
él/ella/usted va a hablar ellos/as/ustedes van a hablar
Yo no voy a decir nada.
I will not say anything.

COERLL • The University of Texas at Austin • info@coerll.utexas.edu Creative Commons License

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