Here are how to form and when to use the two main future tenses in French.
Futur proche
We form the futur proche with the present tense of aller (to go) followed by an infinitive.
Futur proche = aller (present tense) + infinitive
| Personal pronouns | Futur proche |
| Je, j’ | vais manger |
| Tu | vas manger |
| Il, elle, on | va manger |
| Nous | allons manger |
| Vous | allez manger |
| Ils, elles | vont manger |
Use
- The futur proche is used to talk about an immediate action or an action about to happen soon.
- Je vais faire des courses (action immédiate).
- I am going to do my food shopping (immediate action).
- Le bus va arriver dans cinq minutes (action proche dans le temps).
- The bus is going to arrive in five minutes (action about to happen soon).
- We also use the futur proche to talk about an action planned at a specific time in the future.
- On va jouer au tennis demain. We tennis tomorrow.
Futur simple
We form the futur simple by adding the endings –ai, –as, –a, –ons, –ez and –ont to the infinitive for verbs which belong to the 1st and 2nd groups.
- Parler (1er groupe) : Je parlerai (parler + ai). To speak (1st group): I will talk.
- Finir (2ème groupe) : Je finirai (finir + ai). To finish (2nd group): I will finish.
| Personal pronouns | 1st group: parler (to talk) | 2nd group: finir (to finish) |
| Je, j’ | parlerai | finirai |
| Tu | parleras | finiras |
| Il, elle, on | parlera | finira |
| Nous | parlerons | finirons |
| Vous | parlerez | finirez |
| Ils, elles | parleront | finiront |
We use the same endings for verbs which belong to the 3rd group and the auxiliaries, but you have to learn them by heart because their structure changes.
- Voir (3ème groupe) : Je verrai. To see (3rd group): I will see.
- Être (auxiliaire) : Je serai. To be (auxiliary): I will be.
| Personal pronouns | 3rd group: voir (to see) | Être (to be) | Avoir (to have) |
| Je, j’ | verrai | serai | aurai |
| Tu | verras | seras | auras |
| Il, elle, on | verra | sera | aura |
| Nous | verrons | serons | aurons |
| Vous | verrez | serez | aurez |
| Ils, elles | verront | seront | auront |
Use
- The futur simple is used to talk about an intention in the future.
- Je finirai mes devoirs demain. I will finish my homework tomorrow.
- The futur simple is also used to talk about a supposition in the future.
- Ils pensent qu’ils partiront au Canada l’année prochaine. They think they will go to Canada next year.
One thing to keep in mind is that the futur proche is used more often in spoken French than the futur simple.
Find my other posts about the French tenses here.
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