French Future Tense - Futur Simple

The French use the futur simple (simple future tense) to express actions that will occur in the future. It equates to will in English; I will eat. For most verbs, add the following endings to the infinitive: -ai, -as, -a, -ons-, -ez, -ont. For regular -RE verbs omit the final E on the infinitive. The French use the futur simple to express future events that might not be 100% certain. Further down this page we’ll expand on this with usages and example sentences.

Table of Contents

conjugation / endings

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

verbs with irregular stems

Some verbs have irregular stems. The endings in the futur simple are the same for all verbs in the French language. Some ER verbs have some spelling changes in the future.

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

usages, examples and constructions

Use the futur simple to express future events that are relatively uncertain.

Par example:

Demain, j’irai peut-être a la plage.
Maybe I’ll go to the beach tomorrow.

Here are four common constructions using the futur simple:

1) Si + present tense / futur simple

Si j’ai l’argent, j’achèterai la voiture.
I’ll buy the car if I have the money.

2) Esperer que + futur simple

J’espere qu’elle viendra demain.
I hope she’ll come tomorrow.

3) Penser que + futur simple

Je pense qu’il pleuvra demain.
I think it’ll rain tomorrow.

4) Croire que + futur simple

Je crois que les enfants seront très heureux.
I believe the kids will be very happy.

conjunctions and quand

Unlike English where one says, “I’ll call you when I arrive”, both parts of this kind of sentence are in the future tense in French. This applies to sentences with the conjunctions quand (when), lorsque (when), dès que (as soon as), aussitôt que (as soon as) and après que (after). To remember this rule just think “future-future”.

Note that once side of such a sentence would also be in the futur proche (aller + infinitive) or the imperative.

Je te téléphonerai lorsque j’arriverai.
I’ll call you when I arrive.
Je t’appellerai dès que j’aurai les nouvelles.
I’ll call you once I get the news.
Quand tu recevras le colis, appelle-moi.
Call me when you receive the package.
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.