The Complete Guide to the Future Tense in Spanish

The Future Tense Spanish is a really easy tense to study in the language. Spanish Future Tense is used in everyday interactions quite a lot so you don’t want to miss this small reading explaining all you need to know about it.

The Simple future tense in Spanish, also known as futuro imperfecto (imperfect future) or futuro simple de indicativo (simple future of indicative), is used to speak about impending actions, an intention, or a probability.

3 ways to express the Spanish future tense

1. Future tense in Spanish with ir a + infinitive (Informal Future)

This form is commonly used in the Spanish future tense to speak about immediate future actions, similar to “going to” sentences in English.

To structure a simple future sentence in this form we use the verb “ir” in the present tense + the preposition “a” and an infinitive verb, which will describe the action to perform. (ir a + infinitive) Remember, an infinitive is the base form of the verb.

This is how to conjugate it:

1. Voy a comprar una camisa morada; a ella le gusta ese color: I’m going to buy a purple shirt, she likes that color.
2. Mis amigos dijeron que le gustan los animales. Entonces, voy a contar historias sobre mi perro: My friends told me she likes animals. So, I’m going to tell stories about my dog.
3. No puedo dejar oportunidad a otros, voy a bailar con ella toda la noche: I can’t allow others to have a chance, I’m going to dance with her the whole evening.
4. Finalmente, voy a hablar sobre las cosas que le interesan: Finally, I’m going to talk about the things she’s interested in.

In order to use the future tense with the verb “ir” it’s got to be followed by the preposition “a”. If not, it will denote a movement in the present tense, it would mean that you’re heading to a place.

• Hoy Miguel va a hablar sobre la vida en Marte: Today Miguel’s going to talk about life on Mars.
• Miguel va al supermercado: Miguel’s going to the supermarket.

2. Spanish Future Tense ir a + infinitive with reflexive verbs (Informal Future)

In Spanish grammar, a reflexive verb is used when a verb whose direct object is the same as its subject. Reflexive verbs are not formed in Spanish the same way as in English.

In Spanish, there are two ways to add the reflexive particle to form the future tense, and in both ways we can use regular and irregular verbs.

With -Er endings

With -Ir endings

Notice the stem verb remains the same in its infinitive form and we recognize they are in the simple future tense by following endings added after –ar, –er, and –ir.

Simple future tense in Spanish: irregular verbs

For irregular verbs in the future tense Spanish, you’ll notice in the following table that for some of them, not only the ending changes but also the stem (the initial part of the verb).

Some verbs like “Decir” will change their root from “Dec” to “Dir”, for example:

• Diré unas palabras en el discurso de inauguración: I’ll say a few words in the inaugural speech.

Others like “Saber” will change their stem from “Sab” to “Sabr”, and “Tener” from “Ten” to “Tend”. The rest is just following the rules we use for regular verbs.

• Sabré organizar mi tiempo para la asignación de mañana: I’ll know how to organize my time for tomorrow ‘s assignment.
• Tendré que organizar mi tiempo mejor para la nueva asignación: I’ll have to organize my time better for the new assignment.

Use the verb “haber” in the simple present tense to form impersonal sentences and as an auxiliary verb for the future perfect tense.

15 Most used time phrases with the Spanish future tense

In the Spanish future tense, some of the following phrases can be used one way or the other with no difference in meaning. Some people use another word to replace “que viene”.

Let’s take a look at some of the phrases related to the future tense in Spanish that people tend to use:

• Mañana: Tomorrow
• Pasado mañana: After tomorrow.
• La semana que viene o La semana próxima: Next week.
• El mes que viene o El mes próximo: Next month.
• El año que viene o El año próximo: Next year.
• Nunca: Never
• Algún día: Someday
• Uno de estos días: One of these days.
• Más tarde: Later
• En un rato: In a while.
• Pronto: Soon
• Esta noche: Tonight

Keep in mind that you don’t have to know all irregular verb conjugations in Spanish right away, they’ll come with time and the more you use them the faster they stick with you. Besides, the best way to put all this into practice is to always engage in conversations.

Final Thoughts

Listen carefully to how native people speak using different tenses. Also, watching TV series, and enjoying music in the target language will greatly boost your learning process.

As with all education, you’ll only remember what you learn when you put it into practice. If you don’t have anyone to practice with, we invite you to try a free private class or sign up for a free 7-day trial of our group classes, and see why thousands of students trust SpanishVIP!

See you next time!