Spanish Future tenses – Theory and practice

In Spanish there are two ways in which we express the future depending on our intention. They are the future simple and the “ir+a” phrase. Both are correct ways to talk about future events. I’m from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and in everyday Spanish most people, if not all, use the form “ir+a” to talk about the future. In other countries, this might be different. 

What’s the simple future?

We use the simple future to talk about:

• predictions
• simple events in the distant future
• promises

We can compare the simple future in Spanish with the future form: will

Examples:

Spanish	English
Yo pienso que este año habrá muchas tormentas.	I think there will be many storms this year.
Creo que tendremos mucho trabajo estos meses.	I think we’ll have a lot of work these months.
¿Estarás ocupada esta semana?	Will you be busy this week?

There are some phrases that are used in the simple future:

• seguramente
• probablemente
• posiblemente
• tal vez 
• capaz 
• quizás 

With conditional phrases (type 1)

Used to express a condition and a result. The condition can be present simple (indicative) and future result simple (indicative)

Examples:

Spanish	English
Si tenemos tiempo, iremos al parque.	If we have time, we’ll go to the park.
Ella me llamará si tiene noticias.	She’ll call me if she has any news.

How do we form the simple future in Spanish?

There are two types of verbs, regular and irregular. Check out the tables below:

Pronouns	COMER – REGULAR	PODER – IRREGULAR
yo	comeré	podré
tú	comerás	podrás
él /ella / usted	comerá	podrá
nosotros/-as	comeremos	podremos
ellos/-as	comerán	podrán
ustedes	comerán	podrán

Examples of the Simple Future

1. En el año 2030 habrá más coches eléctricos. 
2. Creo que tal vez iremos a la playa este año. 
3. ¿Me llamarás más tarde? 
4. Te prometo que no diré nada. 
5. ¿Vendrán a visitarnos algún día?
6. Yo creo que en el futuro trabajaremos menos horas. 
7. Seguramente Silvio comprará las entradas. 
8. ¿Venderán el coche? 
9. Mi hermana se casará pronto. 
10. Quizás nos reuniremos el mes que viene con la familia de mi esposo. 

When do we use the “ir+a+verb” or Near Future in Spanish?

We use this kind of verbal phrase when we talk about plans and intentions. We are referring strictly to the near or distant future.

How we shape the future:

This verb is formed by the verb IR (to go) in the present simple of indicative followed by the preposition “a” and a verb in infinitive. This last verb will indicate the plan or future action.

Examples:

Spanish	English
El domingo vamos a visitar a mis suegros.	On Sunday we are going to visit my in-laws.
El año próximo voy a empezar la universidad.	Next year I’m going to start college.
Mis amigos van a organizar una reunión a fin de año.	My friends are organizing a meeting at the end of the year.

Questions with “ir + a” in Spanish:

To form questions we can add an interrogative word (what, where, how, why, etc.) and the verbal phrase.

Examples:

Spanish	English
¿Cuándo van a visitar a tus suegros?	When are they going to visit your in-laws?
¿Qué vas a hacer el año próximo?	What are you going to do next year?
¿Dónde van a organizar la fiesta?	Where are you going to organize the party?

Other forms and uses of the future

We also use this kind of verbal phrase when we refer to a past plan that is not finished. In this case we use the verb IR in the preterite imperfect form.

Examples:

Spanish	English
Íbamos a visitar a mis suegros pero tuve mucho trabajo que hacer.	We were going to visit my in-laws but I had a lot of work to do.
Iba a empezar la universidad el año próximo pero decidí viajar.	I was going to start college next year, but I decided to travel.
Mis amigos iban a organizar una reunión pero la pospusimos para el año próximo.	My friends were going to set up a meeting, but we postponed it until next year.

Here’s an activity to test how much you understand: