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2.5: Future Tense

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    164418
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    El tiempo futuro

    In previous semesters, you learned to talk about the future by using a combination of two or more verbs in which the first verb was conjugated in present tense and the rest were used in infinitive form. For example, "voy a comer pizza mañana" (I'm going to eat pizza tomorrow), "tengo que estudiar esta tarde" (I have to study this afternoon), or "queremos ir a la playa el sábado" (we want to go to the beach on Saturday). Although, these sentences refer to the future, they are not using future tense.

    The future tense expresses actions that "will" happen in the future. In English, you use two words, "will + verb", to indicate future; in Spanish, only one verb conjugated in the fture is needed.

    Conjugación: verbos regulares

    In Spanish, the future tense is expressed in a single word, unlike English that uses the auxiliar verb "will". All verbs, regular and irregular, have the same endings: -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án. All endings require an accent mark, except the ending for "nosotros". Regular verbs in future tense are conjugated by adding the new ending to the full verb. There is no need to drop the infinitive ending.

    Future Tense: Conjugation of Regular Verbs
    Infinitivo Yo Usted/él/ella Nosotros Vosotros Ustedes/ellos
    trabajar trabajaré trabajarás trabajrá trabajaremos trabajaréis trabajarán
    traer traeré traerás traerá traeremos traeréis traerán
    pedir pediré pedirás pedirá pediremos pediréis pedirán

     Práctica 1

    Conjugación: verbos irregulares

    Future tense has its own set of irregular verbs. Many of the verbs that are irregular or stem-changing in other tenses, in future tense they are regular verbs. To conjugate irregular verbs in the future, memorize the irregular stem of each verb and add the endings used to conjugate regular verbs. 

    Future Tense: Conjugation of Irregular Verbs
    Infinitivo Raíz irregular Yo Usted/él/ella Nosotros Vosotros Ustedes/ellos
    decir dir- diré dirás dirá diremos diréis dirán
    hacer har- haré harás hará haremos haréis harán
    poder podr- podré podrás podrá podremos podréis podrán
    poner pondr- pondré pondrás pondrá pondremos pondréis pondrán
    querer querr- querré querrás querrá querremos querréis querrán
    saber sabr- sabré sabrás sabrá sabremos sabréis sabrán
    salir saldr- saldré saldrás saldrá saldremos saldréis saldrán
    tener tendr- tendré tendrás tendrá tendremos tendréis tendrán
    venir vendr- vendré vendrás vendrá vendremos vendréis vendrán

     The future of "hay" is also irregular, "habrá". This conjugation translates as "there will be" and it could be used in a singular or plural context:

    • Habrá muchos estudiantes en mi clase. (There will be many students in my class.)
    • Sólo habrá un estudiante en mi clase. (There will only be one student in my class.)

    Ejemplos

    • En el verano solicitaré trabajo en un hospital. (In the summer, I will apply for a job in a hospital.)
    • Después de que me gradúe, viajaré por América Latina. (After I graduate, I will travel through Latin America.)
    • Antes de que termine el semestre, mi familia vendrá a visitarme. (Before the end of the semester, my family will come to visit me.)
    • En el futuro, trabajaré mucho y tendré mucho dinero. (In the future, I will work hard and I will have a lot of money.)

    Práctica 2


    2.5: Future Tense is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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