Future tense
- D’abord je vais vérifier que tout est là. First I’m going to check that everything is there.
- Vous allez tout rapporter. You’re going to take everything back.
- J’achèterai des produits frais I will buy fresh produce
- Je prendrai aussi des fruits I’ll also take some fruit
- J’irai au magasin et je parlerai avec un être humain. I’ll go to the shop and I’ll speak with a human being.
- Ce ne sera pas évident car il y aura beaucoup de monde aujourd’hui. That won’t be easy because there will be a lot of people today.
There are two main ways to express the future in French:
- Futur proche (near future): formed with “aller” + infinitive
- Futur simple (simple future): formed by adding endings to the infinitive
Futur simple conjugation rules:
- For
-erand-irverbs: Add future endings to the full infinitive - For
-reverbs: Remove final-efrom infinitive before adding endings - Future endings:
-ai,-as,-a,-ons,-ez,-ont
- For
Future Tense Conjugations
Regular Verbs
| Pronoun | Parler (to speak) | Finir (to finish) | Vendre (to sell) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Je | parlerai | finirai | vendrai |
| Tu | parleras | finiras | vendras |
| Il/Elle | parlera | finira | vendra |
| Nous | parlerons | finirons | vendrons |
| Vous | parlerez | finirez | vendrez |
| Ils/Elles | parleront | finiront | vendront |
Common Irregular Verbs
| Pronoun | Être (to be) | Avoir (to have) | Aller (to go) | Faire (to do/make) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Je | serai | aurai | irai | ferai |
| Tu | seras | auras | iras | feras |
| Il/Elle | sera | aura | ira | fera |
| Nous | serons | aurons | irons | ferons |
| Vous | serez | aurez | irez | ferez |
| Ils/Elles | seront | auront | iront | feront |
Usage Examples
Futur Simple
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Je partirai demain. | I will leave tomorrow. |
| Nous finirons le projet la semaine prochaine. | We will finish the project next week. |
| Ils seront en vacances en août. | They will be on vacation in August. |
Futur Proche
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Je vais partir demain. | I am going to leave tomorrow. |
| Nous allons finir le projet bientôt. | We are going to finish the project soon. |
| Elle va être médecin. | She is going to be a doctor. |
Using Future in Conditional Sentences
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Si tu viens, je serai content. | If you come, I will be happy. |
| Quand il fera beau, nous irons à la plage. | When the weather is nice, we will go to the beach. |
Softening Requests
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Pourrez-vous m’aider ? | Could you help me? (more polite than “Can you help me?”) |
| Voudrez-vous dîner avec nous ? | Would you like to have dinner with us? |
These tables provide a comprehensive overview of future tense conjugations and usage in French, showcasing both regular and irregular verbs, as well as different contexts where the future tense is employed.
Bonjour
- C’est simple comme bonjour. It’s as easy as pie.
- Bonjour les dégâts ! (Hello the damage) What a mess!
- Ce n’est pas évident de trouver une solution. - Au contraire, c’est simple comme bonjour. It isn’t easy to find a solution. - On the contrary, it’s as easy as pie.
Agreement with direct objects
- Mais ce ne sont pas les articles que j’ai sélectionnés sur le site ! Bu these aren’t the items I selected on the site!
The past participle must agree with the direct object when it precedes the verb. 1
The past participle agrees with the direct object IF and ONLY IF the direct object comes before the verb.
This agreement applies to gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural).
| Sentence Structure | Example | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Direct object after verb | J’ai acheté des pommes. | No agreement (pommes after verb) |
| Direct object before verb | Les pommes que j’ai achetées | Agreement (achetées agrees with pommes) |
| Pronoun before verb | Je les ai achetées. | Agreement (achetées agrees with les = pommes) |
Vocabulaire
| mots | explications |
|---|---|
| les dégâts | damage - Il y a eu beaucoup de dégâts. There was a lot of damage. - faire des dégâts to damage |
| comme d’habitude | as usual - Je ferai mes courses comme d’habitude au marché ce vendredi. I will do my shopping as usual at the market this Friday. |
| le marché | market |
| le produit | product |
| la charcuterie | (= magasin) pork butcher’s shop and delicatessen - A charcuterie sells cuts of pork and pork products such as sausages, salami and pâté, as well as various cooked dishes and salads. (= produits) cooked pork meats |
| le pâté | pâté (a rich, savory paste made from finely minced or mashed ingredients, typically seasoned meat or fish.) pâté de foie liver pâté |
| le saucisson | sausage, salami (a type of highly seasoned sausage, originally from Italy, usually eaten cold in slices.) |
| la pêche | peach, fishing - aller à la pêche to go fishing |
| l’abricot | MASC. apricot |
| le raisin | grapes - des raisins grapes |
| quotidien | daily - la vie quotidienne everyday life - Il est parti faire sa promenade quotidienne. He’s gone for his daily walk. |
| le rayon | ray, radius, shelf, department - le rayon frais the fresh (food) section |
| l’épicerie | FEM. grocer’s shop |
| la conserve | canned food, tinned food |
| le sel | salt |
| le poivre | pepper |
| la moutarde | mustard |
| la farine | flour |
| la pâte | pastry les pâtes pasta |
| papier toilette | MASC. toilet paper |
| le dentifrice | toothpaste - pâte dentifrice toothpaste - eau dentifrice mouthwash |
| huile d’olive | olive oil |
| ajouter | to add |
| le panier | basket |
| en promotion (en promo) | on special offer - Les meubles de jardin sont en promotion cette semaine. Garden furniture is on special offer this week. |
| valider | to validate, to confirm |
| la commande | order - un bon de commande an order form - passer une commande de to put in an order for |
| régler | to adjust, to tune, to set, to solve, to settle - Elle a réglé sa facture. She’s settled her bill. |
| l’achat | purchase - faire des achats to do some shopping |
| livrer | to deliver |
| la livraison | delivery, issue - la dernière livraison de la revue the latest issue of the magazine |
| la revue | magazine |
| en tout | all together - Ça fait combien en tout ? How much is that altogether? |
| poser | to put down, to pose poser quelque chose sur to put something down on - Poser-les sur la table contre le frigo dans la cuisine si vous voulez bien. Put them on the table against the fridge in the kitchen if you please. |
| le frigo | fridge |
| le fond | bottom, end |
| au fond de | at the bottom of - C’est à gauche tout au fond du couloir. It’s on the left, right at the end of the corridor. |
| en haut de | a the top of - Le nid est tout en haut de l’arbre. The nest is right at the top of the tree. |
| vider | to empty |
| l’article | MASC. article, item |
| sélectionner | to select |
| en plus | more - J’ai apporté quelques gâteaux en plus. I brought a few more cakes. |
| la lessive | washing powder, washing - une marque de lessive a brand of washing powder |
| la marque | mark, make, brand |
| le paquet | packet, parcel |
| le bocal | jar |
| le cornichon | gherkin |
| aucun des deux | neither of the two |
| rapporter | to bring back |
| à distance | at a distance, from a distance, remote |
| un être humain | a human being |
| évident | obvious - ce n’est pas évident (= cela pose des problèmes) it’s not that simple / it’s not as easy as all that |
| beaucoup de monde | a lot of people - Il y avait beaucoup de monde au concert. There were a lot of people at the concert. |