lundi 4 novembre 2013

Que sera sera....

THE FUTURE TENSE
 
There are two future tenses. The first one we have done before:
 
The Immediate Future (Le Futur Proche). This translates into English as, 'going to do something'. 
 
 
aller + the infinitive
 
Exemples
 
je vais regarder la télé          =    I am going to watch t.v.
 
tu vas faire les courses         =    You are going to do the shopping
 
Il va se doucher                     =    He is going to have a shower
 
Nous allons visiter Londres    =    We are going to visit London
 
Vous allez manquer le bus    =     You are going to miss the bus
 
Ils vont réparer la voiture      =    They are going to repair the car 
 
 
Last lesson, we learnt  the Future Tense (Le Futur). This translates into English as, 'will do something.
 
The Future Tense of Regular Verbs
 
Use the infinitive + these endings:
 
                                je ----------- ai           nous--------ons       
 
                                tu------------as           vous---------ez
 
                                il                              ils-----------ont
                                elle----------a            elles
                                on
 
 
ER Verbs e.g. telephoner 
 
 
Demain, je téléphonerai à ma mere 
Tomorrow, I will 'phone my mother
 

IR Verbs  e.g. finir  


 
 
Ce soir, il finira ses devoirs               
He will finish his homework this evening
 
 
 
RE Verbs e.g. vendre  
(N.B. With RE verbs you take away the final 'e' from the infinitive)
 


                      
 

 L'année prochaine nous vendrons la masion     
 Next year we will sell the house
 
 
The Future Tense of Irregular Verbs 
 
Irregular verbs have different stems which you just have to learn. The endings are the same as for regular verbs.
 
Here are some common irregular verbs and their future stems:
 
       VERBS                                   STEM                       EXAMPLE (Je...)
      être (to be)                       ser                          je serai
      avoir (to have)                   aur                         j'aurai
      faire (to do/make)              fer                          je ferai 
      aller  (to go)                      ir                            j'irai
      devoir (must/to have to)      devr                        je devrai
      venir (to come)                  viendr                    je viendrai 
      voir (to see)                       verr                        je verrai  
 
 

 La semaine prochaine, Angela fera du bricolage
Next week, Angela will do some DIY
 
 

En juillet ils seront en vacances 
 In July, they will be on holiday



 
Elle a huit ans aujourd'hui. L'année prochaine, elle aura neuf ans
 She is eight years old today. Next year she will be nine.
(Remember to use the verb avoir for age. In French we say, she has 8 years and she will have nine)



Samedi, nous irons au supermarché
On Saturday, we will go to the supermarket

J'ai décoré la maison, vous verrez la difference!
I've decorated the house, you will see the difference!



Il viendra  à Noël
He will come at Christmas



Ma voiture est en panne alors, je devrai prendre le bus
My car has broken down so I will have to take the bus

 
Which Future Tense?
 
Use the same tense in French as you would in English, so if you would say 'going to' in English, then in French use 'aller + infinitive (immediate future / le futur proche). If you would say 'will do something' in English, then in French use the future tense (le futur).
 
As in English, they are interchangeable and there will be occasions when you will hear or read the immediate future in French when we would use the future. Nevertheless, it works if you stick to using it as you would in English (trust me!)  
 
In English, we use the present tense in a 'future sense' e.g. I'm playing football tomorrow. It's exactly the same in French and you can use the present tense in this way as you would in English e.g. Je joue au football demain.