Grammar: Verbs - Future Tenses

Grammar: Verbs - Future Tenses

Future Simple - Il Futuro Semplice

  • The Italian future simple tense or ‘il Futuro Semplice’ is used to express an action that will happen in the future. It is equivalent to the English will + verb (e.g. ‘I will study’ - ‘Studierò’).
  • To form the future simple tense, take the stem of the infinitive and add the appropriate endings. For -are and -ere verbs endings are ‘-erò’, ‘-erai’, ‘-erà’, ‘-eremo’, ‘-erete’ and ‘-eranno’. For -ire verbs the endings are ‘-irò’, ‘-irai’, ‘-irà’, ‘-iremo’, ‘-irete’, ‘-iranno’.
  • Some verbs have an irregular stem but the endings are still the same. For example, ‘andare’ (to go) becomes ‘andr-‘ (e.g. ‘io andrò’ - ‘I will go’).

Future Perfect - Il Futuro Anteriore

  • The Italian future perfect tense, or ‘il Futuro Anteriore’, is used to express an action that will have been completed at some point in the future. It’s equivalent to the English will have + past participle (e.g. ‘I will have finished’ - ‘Avrò finito’).
  • This future tense is formed by using the future simple tense of the auxiliary verb ‘avere’ or ‘essere’ and the past participle of the main verb.
  • Like in other compound tenses, ‘essere’ or ‘avere’ is chosen as the auxiliary verb based on whether the verb is transitive or intransitive, and whether the action is reflexive or not.
  • Agreement of past participle is needed when ‘essere’ is used as the auxiliary verb. The past participle must agree in number and gender with the subject of the sentence.

Important Notes

  • The future tenses are often replaced by the present tense in spoken Italian when the context makes it clear that a future event is being referred to.
  • There are many irregular verbs in the future tenses, it’s important to memorise them.
  • Use future tense when making predictions or suppositions about the present or future. For example, “Sarà tardi” (It will be late).
  • Instead of future perfect, Italians often use the present tense of the auxiliary verb + past participle to express the same meaning in spoken Italian. E.g. ‘È arrivato’ (He has arrived) instead of ‘Sarà arrivato’ (He will have arrived’.