The future tense - French Grammar

 

What is the future tense?
The future tense is a verb tense used to talk about something that will happen or will be true.

1 Using the future tense

• In English the future tense is often shown by will or its shortened form ’ll.

• What will you do?
• The weather will be warm and dry tomorrow.
• He’ll be here soon.
• I’ll give you a call.

• Just as in English, you can use the present tense in French to refer to something that is going to happen in the future.

Je prends le train de dix heures.	I’m taking the ten o’clock train.
Nous allons à Paris la semaine prochaine.	We’re going to Paris next week.

• In English we often use going to followed by an infinitive to talk about something that will happen in the immediate future. You can use the French verb aller (meaning to go) followed by an infinitive in the same way.

Tu vas tomber si tu continues.	You’re going to fall if you carry on.
Il va manquer le train.	He’s going to miss the train.

TipRemember that French has no direct equivalent of the word will in verb forms like will rain or will look and so on. You change the French verb ending instead to form the future tense.

2 Forming the future tense

• To form the future tense in French, you use:

• the infinitive of -er and -ir verbs, for example, donner, finir
• the infinitive without the final e of -re verbs: for example, attendr-

• Then add the correct ending to the stem, depending on whether you are talking about je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils or elles. The endings are the same for -er, -ir and -re verbs.

• Note that apart from the nous and vous forms, the endings are the same as the present tense of avoir.

• Pronoun	Ending	Add to stem, e.g. donner-, finir-, attendr-	Meanings
  je (j’)	-ai	je donnerai je finirai j’attendrai	I will give I will finish I will wait
  tu	-as	tu donneras tu finiras tu attendras	you will give you will finish you will wait
  il elle on	-a	il/elle/on donnera il/elle/on finira il/elle/on attendra	he/she/it/one will give he/she/it/one will finish he/she/it/one will wait
  nous	-ons	nous donnerons nous finirons nous attendrons	we will give we will finish we will wait
  vous	-ez	vous donnerez vous finirez vous attendrez	you will give you will finish you will wait
  ils elles	-ont	ils/elles donneront ils/elles finiront ils/elles attendront	they will give they will finish they will wait

Elle te donnera mon adresse.	She’ll give you my address.
Le cours finira à onze heures.	The lesson will finish at eleven o’clock.
Nous t’attendrons devant le cinéma.	We’ll wait for you in front of the cinema.

Tipje changes to j’ in front of a word starting with a vowel, most words starting with h, and the French word y.

3 Spelling changes in -er verbs

• As with the present and imperfect tenses, a few -er verbs change their spellings slightly in the future tense. The forms with spelling changes have been underlined in the tables.

• With verbs such as appeler (meaning to call), which end in -eler, the
  l doubles throughout the future tense. The double consonant (ll) affects the pronunciation of the word. In appeler, the first e sounds like the vowel sound at the end of the English word teacher, but in appellerai the first e sounds like the one in the English word pet.

Pronoun	Example verb: appeler
j’	appellerai
tu	appelleras
il elle on	appellera
nous	appellerons
vous	appellerez
ils elles	appelleront

• The exceptions to this rule are geler (meaning to freeze) and peler (meaning to peel), which change in the same way as lever .
• With verbs such as jeter (meaning to throw), that end in -eter, the t doubles throughout the future tense. The double consonant (tt) affects the pronunciation of the word. In jeter, the first e sounds like the vowel sound at the end of the English word teacher, but in jetterai the first e sounds like the one in the English word pet.

Pronoun	Example verb: jeter
je	jetterai
tu	jetteras
il elle on	jettera
nous	jetterons
vous	jetterez
ils elles	jetteront

• The exceptions to this rule include acheter (meaning to buy), which changes
  in the same way as lever 

• With verbs such as nettoyer (meaning to clean), that end in -yer, the y changes to i throughout the future tense.

Pronoun	Example verb: nettoyer
je	nettoierai
tu	nettoieras
il elle on	nettoiera
nous	nettoierons
vous	nettoierez
ils elles	nettoieront

• Verbs ending in -ayer, such as payer (meaning to pay) and essayer (meaning to try), can be spelled with either a y or an i. So je paierai and je payerai, for example, are both correct.
• With verbs such as lever (meaning to raise), peser (meaning to weigh) and acheter (meaning to buy), e changes to è throughout the future tense. In lever the first e sounds like the vowel sound at the end of the English word teacher, but in lèverai and so on the first e sounds like the one in the English word pet.

Pronoun	Example verb: lever
je	lèverai
tu	lèveras
il elle on	lèvera
nous	lèverons
vous	lèverez
ils elles	lèveront

4 Reflexive verbs in the future tense

• The future tense of reflexive verbs is formed in just the same way as for ordinary verbs, except that you have to remember to give the reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nous, vous, se).

Subject pronoun	Reflexive pronoun	Example with laver	Meaning
je	me (m’)	laverai	I will wash
tu	te (t’)	laveras	you will wash
il elle on	se (s’)	lavera	he/she/it/one will wash
nous	nous	laverons	we will wash
vous	vous	laverez	you will wash
ils elles	se (s’)	laveront	they will wash

Tipme changes to m’, te to t’ and se to s’ before a vowel, most words starting with h and the French word y.

5 Irregular verbs in the future tense

• There are some verbs that do not use their infinitives as the stem for the future tense, including avoir, être, faire and aller, which are shown in full on .
• Other irregular verbs include:

Verb	Meaning	je	tu	il/elle/on	nous	vous	ils/elles
devoir	to have to, must	devrai	devras	devra	devrons	devrez	devront
pouvoir	to be able to, can	pourrai	pourras	pourra	pourrons	pourrez	pourront
savoir	to know	saurai	sauras	saura	saurons	saurez	sauront
tenir	to hold	tiendrai	tiendras	tiendra	tiendrons	tiendrez	tiendront
venir	to come	viendrai	viendras	viendra	viendrons	viendrez	viendront
voir	to see	verrai	verras	verra	verrons	verrez	verront
vouloir	to want	voudrai	voudras	voudra	voudrons	voudrez	voudront

• il faut becomes il faudra (meaning it will be necessary to).
• il pleut becomes il pleuvra (meaning it will rain).
• This is the future tense of avoir:

Pronoun	avoir	Meaning: to have
j’	aurai	I will have
tu	auras	you will have
il elle on	aura	he/she/it/one will have
nous	aurons	we will have
vous	aurez	you will have
ils elles	auront	they will have

• This is the future tense of être:

Pronoun	être	Meaning: to be
je	serai	I will be
tu	seras	you will be
il elle on	sera	he/she/it/one will be
nous	serons	we will be
vous	serez	you will be
ils elles	seront	they will be

• This is the future tense of faire:

Pronoun	faire	Meaning: to do, to make
je	ferai	I will do/make
tu	feras	you will do/make
il elle on	fera	he/she/it/one will do/make
nous	ferons	we will do/make
vous	ferez	you will do/make
ils elles	feront	they will do/make

• This is the future tense of aller:

Pronoun	aller	Meaning: to go
j’	irai	I will go
tu	iras	you will go
il elle on	ira	he/she/it/one will go
nous	irons	we will go
vous	irez	you will go
ils elles	iront	they will go

• For Verb tables, see supplement.

Key points

• You can use a present tense in French to talk about something that will happen or be true in the future, just as in English.
• You can use aller with an infinitive to refer to things that will happen in the immediate future.
• The stem is the same as the infinitive for -er, -ir and -re verbs, except that the final -e of -re verbs is lost.
• The future tense endings are the same for -er, -ir and -re verbs:
  -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont.
• In verbs ending in -eler and -eter:
  l → ll and t → tt throughout the future tense.
• In verbs ending in -yer:
  y → i throughout the future tense (optional in -ayer verbs).
• Some verbs are irregular in the future tense. It is worth learning these in full.