Track 36

1. The future tense reuses the haber endings Rule

Spanish does have a real future tense, and the good news is that you need no new sounds for it. The endings are the versions of haber you already know, minus the silent h.

-é · -emos · -á · -ás · -án

Two things make it unusual. You add the ending to the whole "to" form, not to a stripped stem, and it does not matter whether the verb is -ar, -er or -ir: one set of endings covers all three.

comeré
I will eat

comeremos
we will eat

comerá
he/she will eat

comerás
you will eat

comerán
they will eat

2. Pushing the accent into the future Concept

The ending takes the accent, so you are literally pushing the accent forward into the future. That may look like coincidence, but the same phenomenon turns up elsewhere.

In Greek, part of forming the past is pulling the accent back one syllable, back into the past. It matters so much that if there is no syllable there to take it, one gets added. Accents somehow reflecting the concept of time is a pattern across languages.

There is a practical bonus: since the accent is always on the ending, you never have to think about where it goes. Organizará, on the end.

3. Think out the whole verb first Method

The most common mistake learners make with this tense. For I will prepare, they say "preparé", dropping the final ar because they never thought out the whole verb.

preparar + -é → prepararé

Esperaré · Organizará · Organizarán · Encontraré · Lo encontraré · Lo encontraremos · Lo encontrará · Los encontrará

Keep the two halves of the thought separate: who is doing the verb, and who or what they are doing it to. Asked for we will find it, the student made the it plural instead of the we. Think about them one at a time.

4. ir is regular in the future Grammar

Ir is wildly irregular in the present, but the future follows the rule exactly.

iré
I will go

iremos
we will go

irá
he/she will go

irán
they will go

irás
you will go

Irán a Irán · ¿Irás? · ¿No irás? · ¿Por qué no irás?

5. Keep the reflexive when you need it Heads-up

The future does not excuse you from the little words. Quedaré is I will remain; for I will stay you must still have the me.

quedaré

I will remain

me quedaré

I will stay

Me quedaré aquí · Estaré cansado · Será

6. New vocabulary, and how much you will use this Note

recomendar
to recommend

con ellos
with them, literally "with they"

He dormido · Hemos dormido · Ha dormido · Lo han recomendado · Desayuno con ellos mañana · Voy a desayunar con ellos

With haber structures the little word has to come before, with no option about placement.

Having learned it, know that the future tense is not used all that often in Spanish. Most of the time you will find yourself using the present or voy a / vamos a. Having future context does not stop you using voy a as well: both work.