Spanish Future Tense: 3 Ways To Express Future In Spanish (How To Form, Uses & Examples)

Imagine you’re having a conversation with a friend, and you want to share your future plans for the upcoming year. You start to explain your future actions, but quickly realize that you don’t know how to properly use the Spanish future tense.

No worries, Spring Spanish (a project I co-founded) has a video on how you can avoid this situation:

And don’t worry, by the end of this blog post, you’ll have a solid understanding of how to express the future in Spanish.

1. What is future tense in Spanish?

So…

Spanish speakers use the future tense in different situations: making predictions about the future, talking about plans or intentions, or expressing certainty about future events.

But the specific future tense used depends on the context and also the speaker’s intention.

2. Spanish future simple (Futuro Simple) verb conjugations

The Spanish simple future tense is mainly used to express actions or events that will happen in the future.

To form the simple future tense in Spanish, you take the infinitive form of the verb and add the following endings:

• For regular verbs ending in -ar: -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án
• For regular verbs ending in -er: -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án
• For regular verbs ending in -ir: -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án

Here are some examples of regular verbs in the simple future tense Spanish:

–AR ending verbs in Spanish future simple

Let’s look at some examples:

• Ella hablará con el director sobre su proyecto. (She will speak with the director about her project.)
• Nosotros hablaremos en español durante nuestras vacaciones. (We will speak Spanish during our vacation.)
• ¿Hablarán ellos francés en la reunión? (Will they speak French in the meeting?)

-ER ending verbs in Spanish future simple

In full sentences, this woud look like:

• Mañana comeré una ensalada para el almuerzo. (Tomorrow, I will eat a salad for lunch.)
• Los niños no comerán muchos dulces. (The children will not eat many sweets.)
• ¿Qué comeremos en la fiesta de cumpleaños? (What will we eat at the birthday party?)

-IR ending verbs in Spanish future simple

In a conversation, this could be like:

• El próximo año, viviré en una nueva ciudad. (Next year, I will live in a new city.)
• Mis abuelos vivirán con nosotros el año que viene. (My grandparents will live with us next year.)
• ¿Dónde vivirás cuando te cases? (Where will you live when you get married?)

However, there are also irregular verbs in the simple future tense.

Here are some of the most common ones (there are some rules that irregular verb in Spanish future follow, but they change their stems, so it’s best to immerse yourself in the language to learn these):

Irregular verbs in Spanish future tense

In real-life examples:

• Ella dirá la verdad. (She will say the truth.)
• Tú tendrás un buen trabajo. (You will have a good job.)
• Yo saldré temprano de la oficina. (I will leave early from the office.)

3. Ir a + infinitive to talk about future in Spanish

Another way to express future in Spanish is by using the construction “ir a + infinitive.”

This structure is similar to the English “going to” and is often used to talk about plans, intentions, or actions that are expected to happen in the near future.

To form this construction, you need to conjugate the present tense of the verb “ir” (to go) and then add the preposition “a” followed by the infinitive form of the verb you want to use.

So, like this:

IR A + Infinitive

Here’s a table showing how to conjugate “ir” in the present tense:

Some example sentences using “ir a + infinitive”:

• Yo voy a estudiar español el próximo año. (I am going to study Spanish next year.)
• Ella va a comprar un nuevo coche. (She is going to buy a new car.)
• Nosotros vamos a viajar a España en verano. (We are going to travel to Spain in summer.)

Do you still have trouble with IR? Check the next video from Spring Spanish:

4. How to form future perfect in Spanish

The future perfect tense is used to express actions that will be completed by a certain time in the future.

In Spanish, it is formed by combining the future simple of the auxiliary verb “haber” (to have) with the past participle of the main verb.

Here’s how to form the future perfect tense:

Future Simple of Haber + Past Participle of the Verb

This is how the future simple conjugation of haber looks like:

Some example sentences using the future perfect tense:

• Para el próximo año, habré estudiado mucho español. (By next year, I will have studied a lot of Spanish.)
• Cuando llegues, habremos terminado la tarea. (When you arrive, we will have finished the task.)

5. Decide between simple future tense Spanish vs Ir + a vs future perfect tense

Deciding which future tense to use in Spanish depends on the context and the speaker’s intention. Though it can be hard in the beginning, there are some general guidelines:

• Use the simple future tense to make predictions about the future, express certainty about future events, or talk about future actions that are expected to happen.
• Use “ir a + infinitive” to express future plans, intentions, or actions that are expected to happen in the near future.
• Use the future perfect tense to talk about actions that will be completed by a certain time in the future.

Here are some examples to help illustrate the differences:

• Mañana iré a la playa. (simple future tense) (Tomorrow I will go to the beach.)
• Voy a ir a la playa mañana. (Ir a + infinitive) (I’m going to go to the beach tomorrow.)
• Para la noche, habré terminado mi tarea. (Future perfect) (By tonight, I will have finished homework.)

The simple future tense is used for more definite or certain future actions, while “ir a + infinitive” is used for intentions or plans in the near future. The future perfect tense focuses on completing an action by a specific time in the future.

Keep in mind, that the use of these tenses can sometimes overlap, and even native speakers use them interchangeably. It all depends on the context and even personal preference.

So, how can you master it?

6. Time markers for Spanish future tense

Now, there are some tips and trick you can keep track of to decide when you have to use the Spanish future tense.

Spanish time markers are actually a great way to decide when you need the Spanish future tense. Their meaning is already a given time in the future, so you can understand you need the future tense in Spanish.

Check out the most common time markers in Spanish + example sentences:

These time markers usually already indicate when you need to use the Spanish future tense, but they aren’t always used with future compounds. These common Spanish words and expression could be used for the present tense in Spanish.

And, believe it or not, for hypothetical situations – then you would have to use the conditional tense in Spanish.

7. Practice worksheet to know the Spanish future tense

Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the Spanish future tense.

Do you want to practice more? Click the button below to gain access to the Full Practice Worksheet!

8. Learn more about the Spanish future tense with Conversation Based Chunking

Okay, let’s admit it: learning the Spanish future tense isn’t the easiest of tasks. But with the right method, it is manageable. And this method is Conversation Based Chunking.

Conversation Based Chunking method focuses on learning the vocabulary and grammar in context through immersion and real-life conversations.

This method helps you learn the future tense in a more natural way, as you encounter it in realistic dialogues.

Instead of memorizing the dry conjugation tables, you can observe how native speakers use different future tense forms to express plans, predictions, and intentions.

The Spanish future tense becomes less of an abstract concept and more of a practical tool for effective communication.