Spanish future tense

Question

How does a future tense work in Spanish? Can I use any other way to refer to the future?

Answer 1

¡Hola!

There are two main ways to go about expressing the future in Spanish: "ir + a + infinitive" (an infinitive is an un-conjugated verb, like hablar, sentir, or tener), and "simple future", or en español, "futuro simple", which takes an infinitive and adds a certain ending, depending on who the action is performed by. Let's break it down.

Personally, I learned "ir + a + infinitive" first in my Spanish studies, which I feel benefited me. But there is no correct way!

1.) Ir + a + infinitive

Basically, this phrase means "[someone/something] is going to "do" [something]".

Ir is a verb meaning "to go". Next, a literally means "to". And finally, the infinitive (un-conjugated verb), is the action going to be done.

1.) Conjugate "ir" to talk about who (or what) is going to be performing the action. For example, "I" (yo form), would be "voy", and "you" (tú form) would be "vas", etc.

2.) Add "a" (the word for 'to').

3.) Add your infinitive verb.

Ejemplos:

1. I will eat/I am going to eat tomorrow. = Voy a comer mañana.
2. We will learn/we are going to learn. = Vamos a aprender.
3. He will sing/he is going to sing. = (Él) Va a cantar.

Answer 2

In addition to talking about futrue events, the Spanish future tense can be used to express: (1) conjecture or supposition regarding the present. Examples:

a. ¿Qué hora será? (I wonder what time it is.)

b. ¿Quién será a la puerta? ((Who can that be at the door/)

(2) Probability regarding the present. Examples:

a. Serán las cinco. (It is probably five o'clock.)

b. Tendrá muchos amigos. (He probably has lots of friends.)

Note: The future tense is never used in Spanish after si when si means if.

Answer 3

Hi there!

Great question! Spanish offers three ways to talk about the future, depending on the situation and your level of comfort:

1. "Ir + a + infinitive" (The go-to for beginners)

This structure is simple—just conjugate the verb ir (to go), add a, and keep the second verb in its infinitive form.

1. Voy a estudiar mañana. (I’m going to study tomorrow.)
2. Vamos a viajar a España. (We’re going to travel to Spain.)

2. Simple Future (The "proper" future tense)

This involves adding specific endings to the infinitive verb. It’s a bit fancier but equally fun!

Here are the endings:

1. yo: -é
2. tú: -ás
3. él/ella/usted: -á
4. nosotros/as: -emos
5. ellos/ellas/ustedes: -án

For example:

1. Estudiaré mañana. (I will study tomorrow.)
2. Viajarán a España. (They will travel to Spain.)

3. Present Tense for Future Context

In casual conversations, Spanish speakers often use the present tense with a future meaning.

1. Te llamo más tarde. (I’ll call you later.)
2. Mañana vamos al cine. (We’re going to the movies tomorrow.)

Tip:

Watch out for irregular verbs in the simple future (like tener → tendré), but don’t stress—practice makes perfect!

Let me know if you’d like more examples or tips. ¡Buena suerte! 😊

Answer 4

I believe that the future tense in Spanish can be distilled down to two primary classifications:

Simple future ("ir a" + infinitive) - what I recommend for beginners:

In this subtense, essentially you are only conjugating "ir", tailoring it to what particular person is going, leaving the verb that follows "ir a" unconjugated in its infinitive form, por ejemplo:

Voy a viajar a México mañana (I am going to travel to Mexico tomorrow)

Regular future:

This is the "proper" way to use the future tense for more advanced speakers:

In this substense, you essentially are keeping the verb in its infinitive but adding the following endings to the final part of the word:

yo - é

tú - ás

él/ella/usted - á

nosotros/as - emos

ellos/ellas/ustedes - án

Keep in mind there are some irregular verbs in the future tense that have slightly modified conjugations, I can expound upon these if you wish.

I hope this helped.

Cheers,

Daniel

Answer 5

We have 2 ways to refer to future actions in Spanish.. The most common and easiest one at a Spanish I level is the use of IR + A + Infinitive. It is important to conjugate just IR as the Infinitive is the non conjugated form of the verbs used to only indicate what is the person going to do: voy a comer/vamos a estudiar/van a beber agua, etc. The other way is the direct conjugation in the future tense of the verbs used: yo caminaré a casa contigo/no beberemos café esta tarde/mi mejor amiga estudiará conmigo, etc. Also it is common amongst Spanish-speaking people to use the present tense to refer to the future actions: te llamo luego, etc.