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.