The future tense
Iré, comeremos, tendré: the future endings and the irregular stems.
Learn
The future tense, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Form the future with the infinitive and its endings
Keep the whole infinitive and add -é for I, -ás for you and -á for he or she: viajaré I will travel, comerás you will eat, vivirá he or she will live. The same endings fit -ar, -er and -ir verbs, and each one carries an accent.
Use the future for what will happen
The future says what will happen or what you will do: En el futuro viviré en el campo. Time phrases like mañana, en el futuro and el año que viene point to it. The future of ir is regular: iré, irás, irá.
Learn the irregular stems tendr-, har-, podr- and pondr-
At Foundation, four verbs change the infinitive before the endings: tendré (I will have), haré (I will do), podré (I will be able to) and pondré (I will put). The endings stay the same: Tendrás tiempo, ¿Qué hará?
Say there will be with habrá
Habrá is the future of hay, and like hay it never goes plural: Habrá una fiesta, Habrá muchos turistas.
Use si with the present and the future
After si (if), use the present, and put the future in the other half of the sentence: Si tengo tiempo, iré a la piscina. Si hace sol, jugaré al fútbol means if it is sunny, I will play football.
Mix the future with the near future
Viajaré and Voy a viajar both talk about the future. Using both in a piece of writing shows a range of tenses: Este verano voy a trabajar y el año que viene estudiaré en Madrid.
Use the plural future endingsHigher only
For we, you all and they, add -emos, -éis and -án to the infinitive: iremos, comeréis, vivirán. Only -emos has no accent.
Learn the Higher stems sabr-, querr-, vendr-, dir- and saldr-Higher only
Five more verbs change their stem: sabré (I will know), querré (I will want), vendré (I will come), diré (I will say) and saldré (I will go out). Saldremos a las ocho means we will leave at eight.
The future tense key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Future tense
- The tense for will, made from the infinitive and an ending: Mañana visitaré a mis abuelos.
- -é
- The future ending for I, added to the whole infinitive: jugaré, beberé, escribiré.
- iré
- I will go. The future of ir is regular: iré, irás, irá.
- tendré
- I will have, from the irregular stem tendr-: Tendré más tiempo en verano.
- haré
- I will do or make, from the irregular stem har-: Haré los deberes después.
- podré
- I will be able to, from the irregular stem podr-: Podré ayudarte mañana.
- habrá
- There will be, the future of hay: Habrá una fiesta en el pueblo.
- diré, saldré and vendréHigher only
- I will say, I will go out and I will come, from the stems dir-, saldr- and vendr-.
Common mistakes in The future tense
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Writing hablé when you mean I will speak.
Hablé is the preterite, I spoke. The future keeps the whole infinitive: hablaré, comeré, viviré.
Giving an irregular verb a regular future, as in teneré or haceré.
A few verbs change their stem: tendré, haré, podré, pondré. At Higher, add sabré, querré, vendré, diré and saldré.
Leaving off the accent, as in viajare or ira.
Every future ending except -emos has an accent: viajaré, irá. Without it, ira is a different word, meaning anger.
Using the future after si, as in Si tendré tiempo.
After si, use the present, and put the future in the other half: Si tengo tiempo, iré al cine.
Making habrá plural, as in Habrán muchos turistas.
Like hay, habrá stays singular whatever follows it: Habrá muchos turistas.
Practice
Try a The future tense question
A GCSE-style original question from this topic. Have a go before you open the working - deciding on an answer first is what makes the working stick.
Which sentence is right?
- Mañana Carlos hacerá la cena para su madre.
- Mañana Carlos haré la cena para su madre.
- Mañana Carlos hará la cena para su madre.
- Mañana Carlos harás la cena para su madre.
Show the answer and the working
Answer: Mañana Carlos hará la cena para su madre.
Carlos is he, so the future of hacer is hará: the irregular stem har- with the ending -á.
- The stem of hacer in the future is har-, so hacerá is out.
- Carlos is he, so the ending is -á.
- Haré is I and harás is you, so hará.