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French Future Tense Overview

Jun 19, 2025

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Overview

This lecture explains how to form and use the futur simple (simple future tense) in French, including regular formation, exceptions, and common irregular verbs.

Forming the Futur Simple

  • The futur simple expresses "will [verb]" actions in French, similar to English "will speak".
  • Unlike English, French futur simple is not a compound tense; there's no auxiliary verb.
  • To form, use the verb's infinitive (unconjugated form) as the stem.
  • Add these endings: -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont.
  • Except for nous and vous, these endings match present tense avoir endings.
  • Example: "manger" (to eat): je mangerai, tu mangeras, il mangera, nous mangerons, vous mangerez, ils mangeront.
  • For -re verbs, remove the final "e" before adding endings (e.g., "vendre": je vendrai).
  • "Going to [verb]" in English is translated with "aller" + infinitive (e.g., je vais payer).

Irregular and Special Cases

  • 12 key verbs have irregular future stems: avoir, ĂȘtre, aller, pouvoir, vouloir, voir, savoir, falloir, envoyer, faire, tenir, venir.
  • Some verbs are slightly irregular:
    • For verbs ending in -yer, "y" changes to "i" (e.g., employer → j’emploierai).
    • Some -ir verbs drop the "i" before adding endings (e.g., courir → je courrai).
    • Verbs ending in -eler and -eter double the consonant (e.g., jeter → je jetterai).

Practice Examples

  • Translate to French using futur simple:
    • They will watch the game after school. (regarder)
    • You (tu) will be able to eat tomorrow. (pouvoir)
    • She will do her homework later. (faire)
    • We will learn to speak French soon. (apprendre)
    • I will be ready in 5 minutes. (ĂȘtre)
    • You all will have problems in the future. (avoir)
    • The children will go to school next week. (aller)

Key Terms & Definitions

  • Futur simple — Simple future tense in French, expressing a future action using one word.
  • Infinitive — The base, unconjugated form of a verb (e.g., parler, finir).
  • Irregular verb — A verb whose stem changes in the future tense.
  • Auxiliary verb — A "helping" verb (e.g., "will" in English), not needed in French futur simple.

Action Items / Next Steps

  • Practice conjugating regular and irregular verbs in futur simple.
  • Translate the example sentences into French using futur simple.
  • Memorize the irregular future stems for the 12 key verbs.
  • Review verbs with spelling changes in the future tense.

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