Future Tense: Will and Shall in Spanish
Quick Answer: The simple future tense is formed by adding endings (-é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án) to the full infinitive. It expresses future actions and also probability/conjecture in the present.
Expressing future plans, predictions, and probability
Category: Verb Tenses
The Rule
The simple future tense is formed by adding endings (-é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án) to the full infinitive. It expresses future actions and also probability/conjecture in the present.
Why This Matters
Spanish future tense has two uses English speakers don't expect: (1) making predictions and (2) expressing present-time probability. '¿Quién será?' doesn't mean 'Who will it be?' but rather 'Who could it be (right now)?'
Examples
• Mañana estudiaré para el examen. — "Tomorrow I will study for the exam." [Future plan] • ¿Qué hora será? — "What time could it be? / I wonder what time it is." [Probability in the present] • Tendrás que trabajar más. — "You will have to work more." [Irregular stem: tener → tendr-] • Alguna día viajarán por el mundo. — "Someday they will travel the world." [Regular future]
Common Mistakes
❌ Yo comeré ayer. ✅ Yo comí ayer. → The future tense cannot be used with past time markers like 'ayer' (yesterday). ❌ Mañana tendré diez años. ✅ Mañana cumplo/cumpliré diez años. → For birthdays, use 'cumplir años' (to turn years old), not 'tener años.'
Quick Tip
The 12 irregular future stems: decir→dir, hacer→har, poder→podr, poner→pondr, querer→querr, saber→sabr, salir→saldr, tener→tendr, valer→valdr, venir→vendr, haber→habr, caber→cabr. The endings are always the same!
The 12 irregular future stems: decir→dir, hacer→har, poder→podr, poner→pondr, querer→querr, saber→sabr, salir→saldr, tener→tendr, valer→valdr, venir→vendr, haber→habr, caber→cabr. The endings are always the same!
Examples
Common Mistakes
Incorrect: Yo comeré ayer. → Correct: Yo comí ayer.. The future tense cannot be used with past time markers like 'ayer' (yesterday).
Incorrect: Mañana tendré diez años. → Correct: Mañana cumplo/cumpliré diez años.. For birthdays, use 'cumplir años' (to turn years old), not 'tener años.'
Quiz
Which verb has an irregular future stem?