Back arrow for previous Spanish language lesson

Lesson 21: Introducing the (Simple) Future Tense

lesson Introducing the Spanish future tense

21.1

Pause button to pause voices when listening to Spanish verb lessonsVoice symbol to read Spanish verb lesson aloud

What is the Simple Future Tense?

You’ve already learned one way to express future actions using structures like Voy a comer en el nuevo restaurante, I'm going to eat in the new restaurant. But there's another way to talk about future events: with the simple future tense. Comeré en el nuevo restaurante uses comer in this future tense, and translates to I will eat in the new restaurant. The distinction between the future tenses is as simple as I am going to eat... versus I will eat... in English.

Definition of the Spanish future tense: the future tense indicates upcoming actions or actions that will occur

21.2

Pause button to pause voices when listening to Spanish verb lessonsVoice symbol to read Spanish verb lesson aloud

Simple Future Tense Endings

Below are the endings for all regular verbs in the simple future tense:

table of the Spanish simple future tense endings for regular verbs

Do you see that?? When we say "simple future", we really mean simple. The endings are the same for ‑AR, ‑ER, and ‑IR verbs; and most of them, with the exception of the nosotros forms, have written accents. So how do we use them? Instead of grabbing the stem of the infinitive, we’re just going to add endings to the end of the infinitive itself:

  1. We start with the entire infinitive of the verb this time:
hablar → hablar__
  1. We add the appropriate ending for yo in the simple future tense:
yo + hablar__ + -é → yo hablaré

21.3

Pause button to pause voices when listening to Spanish verb lessonsVoice symbol to read Spanish verb lesson aloud

Regular Verbs in the Simple Future

Here are some standard regular verbs conjugated in the simple future tense:

hablar simple future tense Spanish conjugation tablecomer simple future tense Spanish conjugation tablevivir simple future tense Spanish conjugation table

That’s it! What an easy step on the road to becoming a VerbMaster!

21.4

Pause button to pause voices when listening to Spanish verb lessonsVoice symbol to read Spanish verb lesson aloud

Using the Simple Future

Below are some examples of how you can use the simple future tense in the real world:

hablar simple future tense example sentence
Yo hablaré con el cartero sobre su comportamiento.
I will speak to the mailman about his behavior.
Yo hablaré con el cartero sobre su comportamiento.
I will speak to the mailman about his behavior.
comer simple future tense example sentence
Los chicos no comerán los arándanos; les dan dolor de estómago.
The kids won't eat the blueberries; they give them a stomachache.
Los chicos no comerán los arándanos; les dan dolor de estómago.
The kids won't eat the blueberries; they give them a stomachache.
vivir simple future tense example sentence
Nosotros viviremos en la casa del árbol con el ermitaño.
‍We will live in the treehouse with the hermit.
Nosotros viviremos en la casa del árbol con el ermitaño.
‍We will live in the treehouse with the hermit.

More good news: there’s only one small group of irregulars for the simple future! We’ll cover those in the next lesson.

Practice Time!

The only way to master these verbs is through targeted practice. Fortunately for you, VerbMaster’s intelligent tutoring system makes conjugation practice a breeze!

‍In this session, you’ll practice conjugating hablar, comer, and vivir in the simple future tense. So what are you waiting for? Get to studying, you’re on your way to becoming a VerbMaster!

Border for all practice cards leading to the Verbmaster app Spanish verb practice