The future

1 Formation of the future

1.1 Regular

For verbs ending in -er, and -ir the future tense is formed by taking the infinitive as stem and adding the following endings: -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont.

Je passerai te prendre à neuf heures

I'll pick you up at nine

Elle finira sa licence l'année prochaine

She'll finish her degree next year

For regular verbs ending in -re the process is the same except the final -e of the infinitive is removed:

Je te rendrai ton livre la semaine prochaine

I'll give you back your book next week

1.2 Semi-irregular

As regards semi-irregulars , verbs conjugating like mener and acheter change the -e in the stem to -è:

Note, however, that verbs conjugating like espérer keep the -é in the stem:

Je t'emmènerai à la gare si tu veux

I'll take you to the station if you like

Nous n'avons plus de yaourt. J'en rachèterai demain

We're out of yoghurt. I'll buy some more tomorrow

Ecoutez bien! Je ne le répéterai pas

Pay attention! I won't repeat this

Verbs conjugating like jeter and appeler double the final consonant:

Elle rappellera dans une heure

She'll call back in an hour

Je jetterai ça à la poubelle

I'll throw that in the bin

For other semi-irregulars ending -ger and -cer there is no change:

Je n'ai pas faim pour l'instant. Je mangerai plus tard.

I'm not hungry at the moment. I'll eat later.

1.3 Irregular

Selon la méteo il fera beau demain

According to the forecast it'll be nice tomorrow

La cérémonie aura lieu ce soir

The ceremony will take place tonight

Nous serons de retour la semaine prochaine

We'll be back next week

2Use of the future

2.1 Situating action in the near or distant future

The future tense is used to situate an action or state in the near or distant future:

Vous recevrez votre commande demain

You will receive your order tomorrow

2.2 Sense of an imperative

As with English also, the future tense can have the sense of an imperative :

Demain tu m'aideras à descendre les valises

Tomorrow you will help me take down the suitcases

2.3 Quand and dès que

It is also used after quand and dès que when referring to future time where English would use the present tense:

Tu pourras apprendre à conduire quand tu auras dix-sept ans

You can learn to drive when you are seventeen

Je te téléphonerai dès que je serai à Manchester

I will phone you as soon as I'm in Manchester

2.4 Immediate future

When situating an action or state in the near future, it is possible, as in English, to use aller plus the infinitive . This is called the immediate future:

Il vaut mieux prendre un parapluie - je pense qu'il va pleuvoir

You'd / We'd better take an umbrella - I think it's going to rain