French Grammar

Future tense

The last tense I will mention in the indicative mood is the future tense. Like in English there is one specific tense to describe actions happening in the future but also other ways of expressing this tense.

Let’s start with the formation of the future tense:

Formation

Most of the time we keep the infinitive intact with its ending and add the following endings: -AI, -AS,-A, -ONS, -EZ, -ONT.

Chanter	Finir	Rendre
Je chanter -AI	finir -AI	rendr -AI
Tu chanter -AS	finir -AS	rendr -AS
Il chanter -A	finir -A	rendr -A
Nous chanter -ONS	finir -ONS	rendr -ONS
Vous chanter -EZ	finir -EZ	rendr -EZ
Ils chanter -ONT	finir -ONT	rendr -ONT

We have to be aware of the irregular verbs and how their stems are affected. So here we go again for some more memorizing work:

Avoir	Etre	Aller	Faire
J’aurai	Je serai	J’irai	Je ferai
Tu auras	Tu seras	Tu iras	Tu feras
Il aura	Il sera	Il ira	Il fera
Nous aurons	Nous serons	Nous irons	Nous ferons
Vous aurez	Vous serez	Vous irez	Vous ferez
Ils auront	Ils seront	Ils iront	Ils feront

Study Tip

You are leaving tomorrow morning for a week-end in Paris. Use the future tense and explain your plans.

Exercise: Fill the gaps

 Note the following verbs:

• Verbs ending in –CER and –GER These verbs don’t present any problems as they had in the present.
• Verbs with double consonants or changes of accentuationDo you remember them? Appeler, jeter, acheter, peser

Appeler	Jeter	Acheter
J’appeller -AI	jetter -AI	achèter -AI
Tu appeller -AS	jetter -AS	achèter -AS
Il appeller -A	jetter -AS	achèter -A
Nous appeller -ONS	jetter -ONS	achèter -ONS
Vous appeller -EZ	jetter -EZ	achèter -EZ
Ils appeller -ONT	jetter -ONT	achèter -ONT

• Verbs with –Ayer, -Oyer or –Uyer endings Nettoyer, essuyer for example loose the “Y” of the stem for an “I”.

Nettoyer

Je nettoierai

tu nettoieras

il nettoiera

Nous nettoierons

vous nettoierez

ils nettoieront

Essuyer

J’essuierai

tu essuieras

il essuiera

Nous essuierons

vous essuierez

ils essuieront

The exception is envoyer (to send) which changes its stem :

Envoyer (to send)

J’enverrai

tu enverras

il enverra

Nous enverrons

vous enverrez

ils enverront

So you don’t have the form "envoierai" but the new stem “enverr”+ ending.

Note that for the verbs ending in –Ayer we can keep both stems :

Payer (to pay)

Je payerai/paierai

Tu payeras/paieras

Il payera/paiera

Nous payerons/paierons

Vous payerez/paierez

Ils payeront/paieront

Other exceptions

Irregular verbs with –RE infinitive ending. They form their future like the regular verbs but you must remove the –E at the end:

Boire

Je boir -AI

Tu boir -AS

Il boir -A

Nous boir -ONS

Vous boir -EZ

Ils boir -ONT

Irregular verbs ending in –IR

For example: Courir, mourir.

Courir

Je courr -AI

Tu courr -AS

Il courr -A

Nous courr -ONS

Vous courr -EZ

Ils courr -ONT

 Be careful that in this tense you need to double the R of the stem when in the imperfect we only have one R.
The first person of the singular in both tenses sounds alike : Je courais, tu courais, il courait, nous courions, vous couriez, ils couraient.

Note also that some have a change of stem:

Venir	Tenir
Je viendr -AI	tiendr -AI
Tu viendr -AS	tiendr -AS
Il viendr -A	tiendr -A
Nous viendr -ONS	tiendr -ONS
Vous viendr -EZ	tiendr -EZ
Ils viendr -ONT	tiendr -ONT

 

The use of the future tense

As in English it is used to describe what will happen. However unlike in English it is used to describe actions which have not happened with conjunctions such as when, while, as soon as. For example:

• As soon as he arrives, give him a cup of tea
• Aussitôt qu’il arrivera donne-lui une tasse de thé

• I’ll go back to France when my brother starts university
• Je retournerai en France quand il commencera l’université

• While we are in Paris, we’ll visit the Eiffel tower
• Pendant que nous serons à Paris, nous visiterons la tour d’Eiffel.

Here is a list of some of the expressions which call for the future tense:

• Quand – When
• Lorsque – When
• Aussitôt que - As soon as
• Une fois que - Once + clause

Try this translation

Translate into English

 Future immediate
Note that if you wish to mention an action which will soon happen or which is more likely to take place you can use the verb “aller” followed by the infinitive of the other verb.

Je vais téléphoner à mon frère

Tu vas répondre au téléphone

Il va prendre un taxi

Nous allons partir en vacances

Vous allez regarder le film ce soir

Ils vont chanter au théâtre

It is very similar to English:

• I’m going to call my brother
• we are going to go on holiday
• you are going to answer the phone etc.

It gives the actions a sense of predictability.