Talking about the Future
Talking about the Future
Future Tense
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The Future Tense in Spanish is used to express an action that will happen later. It is formed by the addition of certain endings to the infinitive form of the verb. For regular verbs, these endings are -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án.
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For example: “Yo trabajaré en el hospital” (I will work in the hospital), or “Ella estudiará para el test” (She will study for the test).
Ir + Infinitive
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Another way to talk about future events is by using “Ir + Infinitive”. This structure translates as ‘going to’ in English. We combine the verb ir (to go), a preposition ‘a’, and an infinitive.
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For example: “Voy a estudiar” (I’m going to study) or “Va a llover mañana” (It’s going to rain tomorrow).
Near Future
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To talk about actions that are going to happen in the near future, estar + gerund can be used. Gerunds in Spanish are formed from verbs by changing the ending to -ando for -ar verbs and -iendo for -er and -ir verbs.
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For example: “Estoy estudiando para una prueba” (I’m studying for a test) or “Estamos haciendo los deberes” (We are doing our homework).
Probability in the Future
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To express a probability or conjecture about a future event, you can use the verb deber + infinitive. It is the Spanish equivalent of ‘should’ in English.
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For instance: “Debería estar aquí a las ocho” (She should be here by eight).
Conditional Tense
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To talk about hypothetical situations in the future, we use Conditional Tense. It is also used to express politeness, wish or regret. The conditional is formed the same way as the simple future.
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For example: “Si tuviera dinero, viajaría a España” (If I had money, I would travel to Spain).
Future Subjunctive
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The use of Future Subjunctive is very rare in modern Spanish, but you might come across it in legal language or literature. It is formed by taking the ellos form of the preterite tense, dropping the -ron ending, and adding -re, -res, -re, -remos, -reis, -ren.
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Unfortunately, there are many irregular verbs in the future subjunctive, so the most important thing might be only to recognise this tense when you see it.