Spanish Future Tense (Futuro Simple)

The future tense (Futuro Simple) in Spanish is used to talk about actions or events that will happen in the future. This tense is essential for making plans, predictions, and discussing what will happen later. It’s one of the more straightforward tenses to conjugate in Spanish, as the endings are the same for all verbs, regardless of whether they end in -ar, -er, or -ir.

When to Use the Spanish Future Tense

The Spanish future tense serves several important functions:

1. Future plans and intentions

  • Visitaré a mis padres el próximo mes. (I will visit my parents next month.)

  • Compraremos una casa nueva el año que viene. (We will buy a new house next year.)

2. Predictions and forecasts

  • Lloverá mañana. (It will rain tomorrow.)

  • El equipo ganará el campeonato. (The team will win the championship.)

3. Promises

  • Te llamaré cuando llegue a casa. (I will call you when I get home.)

  • Seremos amigos para siempre. (We will be friends forever.)

4. Probability or conjecture about the present

  • Serán las ocho de la noche. (It must be around eight at night.)

  • Estará cansado después de trabajar todo el día. (He must be tired after working all day.)

5. Commands or requests (softened)

  • Cerrarás la puerta al salir, por favor. (You will close the door when leaving, please.)

  • Los estudiantes entregarán sus trabajos el viernes. (The students will submit their assignments on Friday.)

Spanish Future Tense Conjugation

To form the future tense in Spanish, you simply add the future tense endings to the infinitive form of the verb. This applies to all types of verbs (-ar, -er, and -ir verbs).

Regular Future Tense Endings

Regular Future Endings (for all verbs)

  • yo: -é

  • tú: -ás

  • él/ella/usted: -á

  • nosotros/as: -emos

  • vosotros/as: -éis

  • ellos/ellas/ustedes: -án

Regular Verb Conjugations

Hablar (to speak)

  • yo hablaré (I will speak)

  • tú hablarás (you will speak)

  • él/ella/usted hablará (he/she/you will speak)

  • nosotros/as hablaremos (we will speak)

  • vosotros/as hablaréis (you all will speak [Spain])

  • ellos/ellas/ustedes hablarán (they/you all will speak)

Comer (to eat)

  • yo comeré (I will eat)

  • tú comerás (you will eat)

  • él/ella/usted comerá (he/she/you will eat)

  • nosotros/as comeremos (we will eat)

  • vosotros/as comeréis (you all will eat [Spain])

  • ellos/ellas/ustedes comerán (they/you all will eat)

Vivir (to live)

  • yo viviré (I will live)

  • tú vivirás (you will live)

  • él/ella/usted vivirá (he/she/you will live)

  • nosotros/as viviremos (we will live)

  • vosotros/as viviréis (you all will live [Spain])

  • ellos/ellas/ustedes vivirán (they/you all will live)

Irregular Verb Stems in Future Tense

While the endings are always regular in the future tense, some common verbs have irregular stems. Instead of using the complete infinitive, they use a modified stem. Here are the most common irregular stems:

Common Irregular Stems

  • decir (to say) → dir- (diré, dirás…)

  • hacer (to do/make) → har- (haré, harás…)

  • poder (to be able to) → podr- (podré, podrás…)

  • poner (to put) → pondr- (pondré, pondrás…)

  • querer (to want) → querr- (querré, querrás…)

  • saber (to know) → sabr- (sabré, sabrás…)

  • salir (to leave) → saldr- (saldré, saldrás…)

  • tener (to have) → tendr- (tendré, tendrás…)

  • venir (to come) → vendr- (vendré, vendrás…)

Irregular Verb Examples

Tener (to have)

  • yo tendré (I will have)

  • tú tendrás (you will have)

  • él/ella/usted tendrá (he/she/you will have)

  • nosotros/as tendremos (we will have)

  • vosotros/as tendréis (you all will have [Spain])

  • ellos/ellas/ustedes tendrán (they/you all will have)

Hacer (to do/make)

  • yo haré (I will do/make)

  • tú harás (you will do/make)

  • él/ella/usted hará (he/she/you will do/make)

  • nosotros/as haremos (we will do/make)

  • vosotros/as haréis (you all will do/make [Spain])

  • ellos/ellas/ustedes harán (they/you all will do/make)

Alternative Ways to Express Future

Spanish has several ways to talk about future actions:

1. Ir a + infinitive (Immediate future)

Similar to “going to” in English, this expresses intentions or plans for the near future:

  • Voy a estudiar esta noche. (I am going to study tonight.)

  • Van a comprar un coche nuevo. (They are going to buy a new car.)

2. Present tense with future time expressions

Using the present tense with a future time expression is common for scheduled events:

  • Mi tren sale mañana a las 8. (My train leaves tomorrow at 8.)

  • Tenemos un examen la próxima semana. (We have an exam next week.)

Note: “Ir a + infinitive” is generally more common in everyday speech for near future events, while the future tense is used more for distant future events, promises, or predictions.

Time Expressions with Future Tense

Here are common time expressions used with the future tense:

  • mañana(tomorrow)

    Iré a la playa mañana.

  • la próxima semana/mes/año(next week/month/year)

    Visitaremos Italia el próximo verano.

  • el fin de semana que viene(the coming weekend)

    Descansaré el fin de semana que viene.

  • dentro de + time period(in + time period)

    Terminaré el proyecto dentro de dos semanas.

  • en el futuro(in the future)

    Los coches volarán en el futuro.

  • algún día(someday)

    Algún día seré médico.

  • pronto(soon)

    Llegará pronto.

Future Tense for Probability

The future tense can also be used to express probability or conjecture about the present:

Probability in the Present

  • ¿Dónde está Juan? — Estará en casa. (Where is Juan? — He’s probably at home.)

  • Son las 9, tendrán hambre. (It’s 9 o’clock, they must be hungry.)

  • Será muy caro, ¿no? (It must be very expensive, right?)

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Using the wrong stem for irregular verbs

  • Incorrect: Yo saliré mañana.

  • Correct: Yo saldré mañana. (I will leave tomorrow.)

2. Forgetting accent marks

All forms of the future tense have at least one accent mark, which is important for proper pronunciation and spelling:

  • Correct: hablaré, hablarás, hablará, hablaremos, hablaréis, hablarán

  • Incorrect: hablare, hablaras, hablara (these are actually subjunctive forms)

3. Confusing with conditional tense

The future tense (actions that will happen) can be confused with the conditional tense (actions that would happen):

  • Future: Iré a la fiesta mañana. (I will go to the party tomorrow.)

  • Conditional: Iría a la fiesta si tuviera tiempo. (I would go to the party if I had time.)

Practice What You’ve Learned

Ready to test your knowledge of the Spanish future tense? Head over to our Practice page and select the futuro simple option to practice with unlimited new sentences and examples.

The practice tool will generate new sentences each time, allowing you to reinforce your understanding of future tense conjugations and usage in various contexts.