The simple future: The simple future (le futur simple) is how French says «will». You use it for future plans («l'année prochaine, je voyagerai»), for predictions («demain, il pleuvra») and even to express a future after a condition («si tu viens, on s'amusera»). The good news: you build it on the infinitive and add one set of endings, and those endings are the same for every verb.
- le futur simple
- the simple future tense («will + verb»)
- l'infinitif
- the infinitive — the whole, unchanged verb (parler, finir, vendre); the future is built on it
- la terminaison
- the ending — for the future it is added to the infinitive (-ai/-as/-a/-ons/-ez/-ont)
- le radical (la racine)
- the stem — the part you add the endings to; usually the infinitive, but a few verbs have an irregular stem (avoir → aur-)
- un verbe irrégulier
- an irregular verb — its future stem is not the plain infinitive (être → ser-, aller → ir-)
- le futur proche
- the near future — aller (in the present) + infinitive («je vais partir»)
When you reach for it: If the prompt mentions «demain», «l'année prochaine», «dans le futur», «un jour» — or asks you to make plans or predictions — it's the future. In speaking and writing tasks it's the natural tense for «Que feras-tu après le lycée ?»
Infinitive + one set of endings: To form the future of a regular verb: start from the infinitive and add -ai / -as / -a / -ons / -ez / -ont. For -er and -ir verbs you keep the whole infinitive (parler → parlerai, finir → finirai). For -re verbs you drop the final -e first (vendre → vendr- → vendrai). The very same endings work for every verb, so there is only one set to learn — and notice that every future stem ends in the letter r.
| Personne | -er (parler) | -ir (finir) | -re (vendre) |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | parlerai | finirai | vendrai |
| tu | parleras | finiras | vendras |
| il / elle / on | parlera | finira | vendra |
| nous | parlerons | finirons | vendrons |
| vous | parlerez | finirez | vendrez |
| ils / elles | parleront | finiront | vendront |
| Infinitif | Radical irrégulier | Exemple (je) |
|---|---|---|
| être | ser- | je serai |
| avoir | aur- | j'aurai |
| aller | ir- | j'irai |
| faire | fer- | je ferai |
| venir | viendr- | je viendrai |
| voir | verr- | je verrai |
| pouvoir | pourr- | je pourrai |
| devoir | devr- | je devrai |
| vouloir | voudr- | je voudrai |
| savoir | saur- | je saurai |
Same endings, only the stem can change: Regular verbs add the endings to the infinitive (just drop the final -e of -re verbs). A short list of common verbs use an irregular stem (être → ser-, avoir → aur-, aller → ir-, faire → fer-), but they take exactly the same endings: je serai, tu seras, il sera… Every future stem — regular or irregular — ends in r, then comes the ending.
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A few everyday jobs: The future tense does a few different jobs. Here are the three you meet most in the exam — each with a French example. There's also a very common everyday alternative for the near future, shown at the end.
Emplois du futur
- Future plans — «L'été prochain, je voyagerai au Canada avec ma famille.» (Next summer I will travel to Canada with my family.)
- Predictions — «Demain, il fera beau sur toute la côte.» (Tomorrow the weather will be good along the whole coast.)
- After «si» (a condition) — «Si tu travailles, tu réussiras.» (If you work, you will succeed.) — note: «si» itself takes the present, the result takes the future.
The near-future alternative: «aller + infinitif»: For plans that are close or already decided, French very often uses the futur proche = aller (in the present) + infinitive instead: «Je vais étudier ce soir» (I'm going to study tonight). It means roughly the same as «j'étudierai ce soir», and it's the form you'll hear most in casual speech. The simple future sounds a little more formal or distant.
My plans, sentence by sentence: Here's a short paragraph about future plans, built one sentence at a time. Every verb is in the simple future — watch for the irregular stems devrai… ferai… serai. Read it once for the meaning, then tap Voir la traduction for the English or 🔊 to hear it.
Le futur en action
Mes projets, phrase par phrase
- L'année prochaine, je finirai le lycée et je commencerai l'université.
- J'étudierai l'informatique parce que j'aime les ordinateurs et la technologie.
- Je devrai déménager dans une autre ville, donc j'habiterai dans une résidence.
- Mes amis et moi, nous nous verrons pendant les vacances et nous voyagerons ensemble.
- Un jour, je ferai un master à l'étranger et je serai ingénieure.
Steal this for your plans: Notice the pattern: a time marker («l'année prochaine», «un jour») + a verb in the future. Swap in your own plans and you have a ready-made answer for «Que feras-tu dans le futur ?» Remember the irregular stems — je ferai, not «je feraierai»; je serai, not «je êtrerai».
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The slips anglophone learners make: Three mistakes cost most marks in the French future. (1) Confusing the future ending -ai with the conditional -ais (je parlerai = I will, je parlerais = I would). (2) Putting the future after «si» (after «si» the verb stays in the present). (3) Regularising an irregular stem (writing «je avoirai» instead of «j'aurai»). Compare the right version with the typical mistake and the fix becomes obvious.
Correct
- Demain, je parlerai au professeur.
- Si tu travailles, tu réussiras.
- L'année prochaine, j'aurai dix-huit ans.
Erreur courante
- Demain, je parlerais au professeur.
- Si tu travailleras, tu réussiras.
- L'année prochaine, j'avoirai dix-huit ans.
Check -ai vs -ais, «si», and the stem: Before you move on, run three checks: is it «will» (-ai) and not «would» (-ais)? Is the verb after «si» in the present (not the future)? And is the verb one of the irregular-stem ones (être → ser-, avoir → aur-, aller → ir-, faire → fer-)? Those three checks catch nearly every future-tense slip.