Spanish Grammar Guide

Simple Future (e.g.: hablaré)

In this section: Description, Questions, Exercises

Description

An Overview of the Simple Future

The simple future is used to describe an action that will occur in the future, e.g.: (yo) trabajaré mañana ("I will work tomorrow"). It can be used for actions that will happen near or far in the future. 

How to Form the Simple Future

The simple future is formed by attaching an ending to the infinitive, as illustrated in the following table:

subject simple future Translation
yo hablaré
"I will speak"
hablarás
"you will speak"
él, ella, usted hablará
"he, she, you will speak"
nosotros hablaremos
"we will speak"
vosotros hablaréis "you will speak"
ellos, ellas, ustedes hablarán
"they, you will speak"

Note that these are the endings used for all verb types (-ar, -er and -ir, e.g.: ellos comerán, ella comparti).

A number of common verbs form their future with an irregular stem:

  • salir, e.g.: (yo) saldré
  • querer, e.g.: (yo) querré
  • decir, e.g.: (yo) diré
  • hacer, e.g.: (yo) haré
  • valer, e.g.: (yo) valdré
  • tener, e.g.: (yo) tendré
  • caber, e.g.: (yo) cabré
  • saber, e.g.: (yo) sabré
  • poner, e.g.: (yo) pondré
  • venir, e.g.: (yo) vendré
  • poder, e.g.: (yo) saldré
  • haber, e.g.: (yo) habré

Simple Future to Express Probability

The simple future can also be used to express events or states that are likely to be true, e.g.: La profesora no está. ¿Dónde estará? Estará en el tráfico. ("The professor is not here. Where could she be? She's likely in traffic.")

Simple Future or Future Using Ir?

These can both be used to describe future events. Some grammarians have suggested that the future using ir is preferred for events that are more certain or likely to occur in the near future. However, both kinds of future can be used with such events. The main difference is that the simple future is more formal and more frequent when writing.

Tags: verbs simple future future using ir
In this section: Description, Questions, Exercises
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