The French future tense, called le futur simple, lets you talk about what will happen later. It is used for plans, predictions, promises, and events that are expected in the future. Learning it helps students move beyond the near future with aller and speak in a more polished way.
It is common in conversation, writing, weather reports, announcements, and storytelling.
Key Facts
- The futur simple means will plus verb, as in je parlerai = I will speak.
- For most regular verbs, use the infinitive as the stem, then add future endings.
- Future endings are -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont.
- For regular -re verbs, drop the final e before adding the future ending: vendre -> je vendrai.
- Some common verbs have irregular stems: être -> ser-, avoir -> aur-, aller -> ir-, faire -> fer-, venir -> viendr-.
- The near future uses aller + infinitive, as in je vais étudier, while the futur simple uses one conjugated verb, as in j'étudierai.
Vocabulary
- Le futur simple
- The French future tense used to say what will happen.
- Infinitive
- The basic form of a verb before it is conjugated, such as parler, finir, or vendre.
- Stem
- The base part of a verb that endings are added to.
- Ending
- The letters added to a verb stem to show the subject and tense.
- Irregular stem
- A future tense verb base that does not follow the normal infinitive pattern and must be memorized.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Using aller twice, as in je vais irai, is wrong because the futur simple already means will happen and does not need aller.
- Forgetting to drop the final e in -re verbs, as in je vendreai, is wrong because the correct future stem is vendr-.
- Adding endings to the present tense stem, as in je parlai from parle, is wrong because the regular future stem is usually the infinitive parler.
- Mixing up -ai and -ais is wrong because -ai is the futur simple ending for je, while -ais is an imperfect tense ending.
Practice Questions
- 1 Conjugate these 6 verbs in the futur simple: je parler, tu finir, il vendre, nous aller, vous faire, elles être.
- 2 Translate these 5 sentences into French using the futur simple: I will study tomorrow. You will travel next week. She will sell the car. We will go to Paris. They will be ready.
- 3 Explain when a speaker might choose le futur simple instead of aller + infinitive, and give one original French example.