How can I express the future tense in Spanish?

Question

In English we have various ways of expressing that something will happen in the future. What about in Spanish?

Answer 1

I can think of 5 ways in English that we can express that something will happen in the future. Take a look!

1. In a question, we can use intonation to indicate a future event. For example: "The party is next week. You going?" (In effect we are asking "will you be going?"
2. Subject + Will +Verb Base. For example: "She will sing country songs"
3. Subject + To Go + Infinitive + Present Continuous. For example: "I am going to go shopping". "They are going to catch a flight to Germany".
4. Using the present continuous (the ING form) to express a future event. For example: She is bringing the food to the party". "I am picking up my brother at 10pm"
5. Using the simple present with a modifier. For example: " I have a doctor's appointment next week"

So, what about in Spanish? Well believe it or not, it's pretty much the same!

1. Intonation in a question. For example: "Vas mañana?" "Are you going tomorrow?"
2. To Go + Infinitive + IR + Infinitive: For example: "Yo voy a ir a nadar" "I am going to go swimming"
3. Using the present- it can be either the continuous (ING) or just the plain old simple present. For example "Mañana, ella baila con Juan" "Tomorrow, she dances with John"
4. Using the actual future tense and its conjugations (infinitive + é, ás, á, emos, án)

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