Updated on December 13, 2024
The future tense in French
If you have started learning French, you know that verb conjugation is one of the most difficult areas of the language. But, fear not! We have some good news for you. The future tense is the simplest of the French tenses! In fact, it’s called the “futur simple”! Here’s how to form and use it.
If you’re a builder at heart or a Lego fan, you’ll be able to fall back into childhood thanks to the conjugation of the future simple tense in French. The first thing you need to know is that verbs in the future simple tense have two parts: the infinitive and an ending.
The infinitive is the form in which you find a verb when you look it up in the dictionary. There are verbs that end in -ER, -IR, -RE, -OIR, -DRE.
The endings to add are : -ai, -as, – a, -ons, -ez, -ont. They come from the verb ” avoir ” (to have) in the present tense.
You now have the recipe for the simple future tense in French. Let’s try it with some verbs:
| Infinitive | + endings | = Future simple |
| MANGER (to eat) | -ai | Je mangerai |
| FINIR (to finish) | -as | Tu finiras |
| BOIRE (to drink) | -a | Il boira |
| DIRE (to say) | -ons | Nous dirons |
| METTRE (to put) | -ez | Vous mettrez |
| ÉCRIRE (to write) | -ont | Ils écriront |
There is only one small change to note for verbs ending with an -e in the infinitive such as boire, écrire, dire: these verbs lose their final “e” in the future tense.
Example: LIRE (to read) je lirai (and not je lireai)
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Of course, if there weren’t a few exceptions, this wouldn’t be French conjugation! It’s just that some verbs have been used so much over the centuries that they have lost their regularity… but not their logic! The endings remain the same, it’s just that their base is not the infinitive form, but an invented form. Here are some of them:
| Infinitive | Base | Future simple |
| ÊTRE (to be) | Ser- | Je serai, tu seras, il sera… |
| AVOIR (to have) | Aur- | J’aurai, tu auras, elle aura… |
| ALLER (to go) | Ir- | J’ira, tu iras, il ira… |
| FAIRE (to do) | Fer- | Je ferai, tu feras, elle fera… |
| VOIR (to see) | Verr- | Je verrai, tu verras, il verra… |
| VENIR (to come) | Viendr- | Je viendrai, tu viendras, elle viendra… |
| TENIR (to hold) | Tiendr- | Je tiendrai, tu tiendras, il tiendra… |
| ENVOYER (to send) | Enverr- | J’enverrai, tu enverras, elle enverra… |
| RECEVOIR (to receive) | Recevr- | Je recevrai, tu recevras, il recevra… |
| MOURIR (to die) | Mourr- | Je mourrai, tu mourras, elle mourra… |
| FALLOIR (have to) | Faudr- | Il faudra |
| PLEUVOIR (to rain) | Pleuvr- | Il pleuvra |
If you’re just starting to learn French and are frustrated that you haven’t learned the simple future tense yet, you can still express future actions using the near future tense. Even simpler than the simple future tense (and this time without exception)! You just need to know the verb ” aller ” (to go) in the present tense.
You now know the first part of the future tense. For the second part, you just need to add your action with an infinitive verb. This is the equivalent of “going to + v. infinitive” in English.
The simple future tense expresses projects, not necessarily concrete:
The near future expresses an immediate or foreseeable, rather certain event:
To differentiate between the two tenses, it is important to remember that the near future tense generally indicates a change:
Whereas the simple future tense indicates planning:
We therefore often use the near future for changes and the simple future for consequences:
Come on, you too can make plans with Lingoda and schedule your next course!
