Learning Spanish Online and the Future Indicative Tense

Posted by Nick Niesen on October 27th, 2010

The Future Indicative Tense

This Learning-Spanish Grammar lesson covers the Future Indicative Tense for regular verbs. Similar to English, the Future Indicative Tense in Spanish is used:

1. To express a future action or condition.

Juan no hablará durante la misa.

(Juan will not speak during the mass.)

2. To express something that is probable and phrased in a question.

¿Qué será lo que te preocupas?

(What is bothering/preoccupying you?)

The conjugation pattern is standard. Unlike other tenses, the future tense in Spanish is simple, as its ending is the same in -ar, -er, and -ir verbs. Its conjugation is as follows:

Hablar (to have)

yo hablaré (I will speak) nosotros hablaremos (we will speak)

tú hablarás (you will speak) ellos hablarán (they will speak)

él hablará (he will speak) ellas hablarán (they will speak)

ella hablará (she will speak) ustedes hablarán (they will speak)

usted hablará (you will speak)

Examples:

Ellos hablarán mucho del amor.

(They will speak a lot about love.)

Durante la cena, hablaré con mis tias de como cocinar bacalao.

(During dinner, I will talk to my aunts about how to cook salted codfish.)

Beber (to drink)

yo beberé (I will drink) nosotros beberemos (we will drink)

tú beberás (you will drink) ellos beberán (they will drink)

él beberá (he will drink) ellas beberán (they will drink)

ella beberá (she will drink) ustedes beberán (they will drink)

usted beberá (you will drink)

Examples:

Durante la fiesta Marcos beberá mucho ron.

(During the party, Marcos will probably drink a lot of rum.

Los bebés beberán mucha leche.

(The babies will drink a lot of milk.)

Escribir (to write)

yo escribiré (I will write) nosotros escribiremos (we will write)

tú escribirás (you will write) ellos escribirán (they will write)

él escribirá (he will write) ellas escribirán (they will write)

ella escribirá (she will write) ustedes escribirán (they will write)

usted escribirá (you will write)

Examples:

Escribiré una gran novela.

(I will write a great novel.)

En la universidad escribiremos muchos ensayos.

(In the university we will write many essays.)

**Notice how the above conjugations follow the same pattern: é, ás, á, emos, and án.

With this conjugation pattern in mind, here are a few more examples of the future tense for regular verbs:

¿Qué será lo que me quiere decir Luis?

(What is it that Luis wants to tell me?)

Mis amigas y yo viajaremos al Perú este verano.

(My friends and I will travel to Peru this summer.)

Regresaremos del Perú en Agosto.

(We will return from Peru in August.)

Sé que nuestro viaje a Machu Pichu nos fascinará.

(I know that our trip to Machu Pichu will fascinate us.)

La madre de Josefa irá con nosotros.

(Josefa's mother will go with us.)

¿Cuándo será que me escribirán mis padres de sus vacaciones?

(When will my parents write to me about their vacation?

Después de su viaje, las mujeres volverán a Nueva York.

(After their trip, the women will return to New York.)

Now let?s try a few exercises. Translate the following into Spanish. The answers follow the exercise.

1. This summer I will travel to Europe.

2. Juana's family will go to Santiago in April.

3. This course will teach us Spanish.

4. Roberto will be sad to leave his country.

5. Someday, you will be a good doctor.

6. Next week, we will have an exam.

7. Enrique's parents will buy a big cake for his birthday.

8. What is it that worries you?

9. What can this mean?

10. Where will you live next year?

1. Este verano viajaré a Europa.

2. La familia de Juana irá a Santiago en Abril.

3. Este curso nos enseñará el Español.

4. Roberto estará triste al salir de su país.

5. Algún día, tú serás un buen doctor.

6. La próxima semana, tendremos un examen.

7. Los padres de Enrique comprarán una torta grande para su cumpleaños.

8. ¿Qué será lo que te preocupas?

9. ¿Qué será lo que significa esto?

10. ¿Dónde vivirás el próximo año?