How to form the French future tense

The French future tense (futur simple) is formed by adding the future ending (-ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont) to the future stem. For example, je parlerai (I will speak), tu parleras (you will speak), il, elle parlera (he, she will speak), nous parlerons (we will speak), vous parlerez (you will speak) and ils, elles parleront (they will speak).

Another future tense called the futur proche is formed by combining the present tense of aller (to go) with an infinitive. For example, je vais parler (I am going to speak).

Futur simple endings for regular verbs

In French, the futur simple endings (-ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont) are the same for every verb in the the language.

For regular -er and -ir verbs, the future stem is the infinitive of the verb. For regular -re verbs the future stem is the infinitive minus the -e.

The following table shows the futur simple endings for regular verbs.

PARLER TO SPEAK
je parlerai tu parleras il parlera	nous parlerons vous parlerez ils parleront
FINIR TO FINISH
je finirai tu finiras il finira	nous finirons vous finirez ils finiront
VENDRE TO SELL
je vendrai tu vendras il vendra	nous vendrons vous vendrez ils vendront

Irregular verb stems

Many French verbs have an irregular stem in the futur simple. This means that rather than just adding the ending of the infinitive (je parlerai), the infinitive appears in a completely different spelling.

For example, for the verb “être“ (to be), the futur simple is je serai (I will be).

Infinitive	English	Irregular Stem	English
aller	to go	j'irai	I'll go
apercevoir	to notice	j'apercevrai	I'll notice
avoir	to have	j'aurai	I'll have
courir	to run	je courrai	I'll run
devenir	to become	je deviendrai	I'll become
devor	must, have to	je devrai	I'll have to
envoyer	to send	j'enverrai	I'll send
être	to become	je serai	I'll become
faire	to make, do	je ferai	I'll make, do
falloir	to be necessary	il faudra	It will be necessary
mourir	to die	je mourrai	I'll die
pleuvoir	to rain	il pleuvra	It will rain
pouvoir	can, to be able to	je pourrai	I'll be able to
recevoir	to receive	je recevrai	I'll receive
revenir	to come back, return	je reviendrai	I'll be back
savoir	to know	je saurai	I'll know
tenir	to hold	je tiendrai	I'll hold
valoir	to be worth	il vaudra	It will be worth
venir	to come	je viendrai	I'll come
voir	to see	je verrai	I'll see
vouloir	to want	je vourai	I'll want
ER verbs with stem/spelling changes
acheter	to buy	j'achêterai	I'll buy
appeler	to call	j'appellerai	I'll call
employer	to hire	j'emploierai	I'll hire
essuyer	to wipe	j'essuierai	I'll wipe
jeter	to throw	je jetterai	I'll throw
nettoyer	to clean	je nettoierai	I'll clean
préférer	to prefer	je préférerai	I'll prefer
s'asseoir	to sit	je m'assiérai or je m'assoirai	I'll sit

Futur simple uses

The following example sentences all use the futur simple. You will see that they all include an element of uncertainty.

Si j’ai l’argent, j’achèterai la voiture. I’ll buy the car if I have the money.
J’espère qu’elle viendra demain. I hope she’ll come tomorrow.
Je pense qu’il pleuvra demain. I think it’ll rain tomorrow.
Je crois que les enfants seront très heureux. I believe the kids will be very happy.

Future-future rule

There is a grammatical in French which I called the “future-future” rule. In English, you say “I will call you when I arrive”.

In French, the futur simple is used for both verbs in this kind of sentence. Hence it would look like: “I WILL call you when I WILL arrive” or “Je vous téléphonerai quand j’ariverai”.

The following sentences are examples of the future-future rule. The trigger words for this rule are underlined.

Je t’appellerai dès que j’aurai les nouvelles. I’ll call you once I get the news.
Je partirai en vacances quand il fera beau. I’ll go on vacation when it’s nice out.
Il se couchera dès qu‘il finira son travail. He’ll go to bed once he finishes his work.
J’achèterai une maison quand j’aurai assez d’argent. I’ll buy a house when I have enough money.

Si clause sentence with futur simple

The futur simple can be used in sentences like, “If I have the money, I will buy the car”. “Si j’ai l’argent, j’achetèrai la voiture”. The rule is: Si + present tense, then + futur simple. Here are some examples:

Si j’ai le temps, je partirai en vacances. I’ll go on vacation if I have the time.
Si j’ai les moyens, j’acheterai le bateau. I’ll buy the boat if I can afford it.

Futur antérieur (past future tense)

The futur antérieur (past future tense) is used to describe actions that will have happened in the future. For example, J’aurai mangé (I will have eaten).

For verbs which use avoir (to have) as an auxiliary verb in the passé composé, the futur anérieur is formed with avoir conjugated in the future and the past participle.
For verbs which use être as an auxiliary verb in the passé composé, conjugate être in the future and add the past particle.

Futur antérieur conjugation

The following table summarizes the conjugations for the French past future tense and includes a reflexive verb.

PARLER TO SPEAK -> WILL HAVE SPOKEN
j'aurai parlé tu auras parlé il aura parlé	nous aurons parlé vous aurez parlé ils auront parlé
ALLER TO GO -> WOULD HAVE GONE
je serai allé(e) tu seras allé(e) il/elle sera allé(e)	nous serons allé(e)s vous serez allé(e)(s) ils/elles seront allé(e)s
SE LEVER -> WILL HAVE GOTTEN UP
je me serai levé(e) tu te seras levé(e) il/elle se sera levé(e)	nous nous serons levé(e)s vous vous serez levé(e)(s) ils/elles se seront levé(e)s

Futur antérieur example sentences

The future perfect can be used in straight “will have happened” sentences as well as form anteriority – Action A will have happened before action B.

“Will have” sentences

This following are examples of straight “will have” sentences.

J’aurai appris tous ces verbes avant la fin de l’année. I will have learned all these verbs before the end of the year.
Tu aura déjà trouvé un nouveau boulot avant juillet. You will have already found a new job before July.
Nous aurions acheté une nouvelle maison avant 2022. We will have bought a new house before 2022.

Anteriority examples

The following example sentences introduce the idea of “anteriority”: When action A occurs, action B will have already occurred.

Quand tu arriveras à la maison, j’aurai déjà fini mon repas. When you get home, I’ll already have finished my meal.
Quand elle partira, je serai déjà parti. When she leaves, I’ll already have left.
Dès que tu accepteras ma décision, nous en parlerons. Once you accept my decision, we’ll talk about it.

Probability

The following example sentences express probability: Action A should have happened.

Il aura encore oublé le rendez-vous! He must have forgotten the meeting again!
Elle aura encore brûlé le gateau! She must have burnt the cake again!
Ils auront encore raté l’examen! They must have failed the exam again!

Whether

The following example sentences cover the concept of “whether” – “I wonder if + completed action”.

Je me demande si elle sera venue. I wonder if she came.
Je voudrais savoir s’ils auront fini les devoirs. I’d like to know if they finished the homework.
Je me demand s’il se sera rendu compte de sa faute. I wonder if he realized his mistake.

Futur proche: Near future tense

The futur proche is formed by following a conjugated form of aller + infinitive. For example, je vais manger (I’m going to eat). Je vais is the conjugated form of aller in the first-person singular form and manger is the infinitive of to eat.

Futur proche conjugation

Futur proche uses and examples

The futur proche often suggests a high level of certainty, meaning it is very likely that the event will happen in the future.

The name of the tense is literally the “near” future tense, the described event can occur both in the immediate (next few minutes) or more distant (next few years) future.

The main point is that there is that the level of certainty is higher than the futur simple, which we will see below.

Example sentences:

Je vais acheter les billets. I am going to buy the tickets (it is certain; I have a reservation).
Nous allons dîner au restaurant. We are going to eat out (again it is certain, we have a reservation).
Ils vont achter la maison. They are going to buy the house (Again, it is certain – they got approved for the loan).