The Future in French

Quick Answer

Le futur simple(the future simple)—more specifically, le futur de l'indicatif(the future indicative)—is a tense used to talk about events that will happen in the future. It is a simple tense, meaning that endings are added directly to the end of the verb. For example:

examples
Laure dormira bien ce soir. Laure will sleep well tonight.
Moussa ira au cinéma demain. Moussa will go to the movies tomorrow.

examples

Laure dormira bien ce soir.

Laure will sleep well tonight.

Moussa ira au cinéma demain.

Moussa will go to the movies tomorrow.

In this article, you'll learn how and when to use the future tense in French. C'est parti !(Let's go!)

Questions This Article Answers

What is the future simple in French?

How do you conjugate verbs in the future simple in French?

What are the endings of the future simple in French?

Conjugating Verbs in the Future in French

In French, the main future tense is called le futur(the future), le futur simple(the simple future), or le futur de l'indicatif(the future indicative). It is used to talk about things that will happen at some point in the future.

Note that there is another future tense used to talk about events that are about to happen: le futur proche(the near future). This article focuses exclusively on the main future tense: le futur (aka le futur simple).

Conjugating Regular Verbs in the Futur Simple

Luckily, the futur simple is one of the easiest tenses to conjugate in French! You simply take the infinitive form of the verb and add the future endings! For example, for the verb parler(to talk), take parler and add one of the following conjugations to the end of the infinitive verb. Let's take a look at the endings of French future simple verbs!

French Future Simple Conjugations

Subject	Ending
je	-ai
tu	-as
il, elle, on	-a
nous	-ons
vous	-ez
ils, elles	-ont

Attention !(Watch out!) If the infinitive ends with the letter -e, as in attendre(to wait), drop the -e before applying the future endings.

Here are a few verbs that are conjugated in the future simple or future indicative in French.

Parler in the Future

Conjugations for Parler in the Future Simple

Subject	Ending	Example	English
je	-ai	je parlerai	I will talk
tu	-as	tu parleras	you will talk
il, elle, on	-a	il parlera	he will talk
nous	-ons	nous parlerons	we will talk
vous	-ez	vous parlerez	you (all) will talk
ils, elles	-ont	elles parleront	they will talk

Attendre in the Future

Conjugations for Attendre in the Future Simple

Subject	Ending	Example	English
je	-ai	j'attendrai	I will wait
tu	-as	tu attendras	you will wait
il, elle, on	-a	elle attendra	she will wait
nous	-ons	nous attendrons	we will wait
vous	-ez	vous attendrez	you (all) will wait
ils, elles	-ont	ils attendront	they will wait

The Future Endings Look Like Avoir!

Do you think it's hard to remember verb endings? The future simple shouldn't be hard! Here's a handy trick to help you remember it: it's just like avoir(to have)! Notice how the endings of the futur simple look almost identical to the forms of verb avoir in the present tense. Easy, right?

Avoir and French Future Simple Endings

Subject	Avoir	Future Ending
je	ai	-ai
tu	as	-as
il, elle, on	a	-a
nous	avons	-ons
vous	avez	-ez
ils, elles	ont	-ont

Take a look at these examples that use the simple future in French!

examples
Je partirai demain à midi. I will leave tomorrow at noon.
Nous voyagerons en Afrique du Sud en décembre. We will travel to South Africa in December.

Conjugating Irregular Verbs in the Futur Simple

As with any other French tense, there are some irregularities in the future that you need to watch out for! The good news is that these irregular verbs use the same endings as other verbs in the future simple. However, their stem changes; these verbs do not use the infinitive of the verb, but rather something completely different! For example, the verb avoir(to have) changes to aur- in the future. To say I will have, you say j'aurai. The "aur-" part is called the future stem. Below are the main future stems. Note that this is not an exhaustive list.

Some Irregular Verbs in the Future Simple in French

Infinitive	Future Stem	English
aller	ir-	to go
avoir	aur-	to have
devoir	devr-	to have to
envoyer	enverr-	to send
être	ser-	to be
faire	fer-	to do
pleuvoir	pleuvr-	to rain
pouvoir	pourr-	to be able to
recevoir	recevr-	to receive
savoir	saur-	to know
tenir	tiendr-	to hold
venir	viendr-	to come
voir	verr-	to see
vouloir	voudr-	to want

To conjugate one of these irregular verbs in the futur simple, add the future endings directly to the future stem. For example, let’s look at a very common (and very irregular) verb in the future simple: aller!

Conjugations for Aller in the Future Simple

Subject	Example	English
je	j'irai	I will go
tu	tu iras	you will go
il, elle, on	il ira	he will go
nous	nous irons	we will go
vous	vous irez	you (all) will go
ils, elles	ils iront	they will go

French Future Endings

Luckily, future endings are never irregular in French! They're always -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont.

How to Conjugate Irregular Verbs in the Future Simple in French

Still feeling unsure of how to conjugate irregular verbs in the future simple in French? We’ve got you covered! Read on to find out how to conjugate some of the most common irregular verbs in the future simple.

Take a look at the conjugation tables of the most frequent verbs with an irregular future stem!

aller

avoir

devoir

envoyer

être

faire

pleuvoir

pouvoir

recevoir

savoir

tenir

venir

voir

vouloir

Examples with Irregular Verbs in the Future Simple in French

Check out these examples of irregular verbs in the future simple in French!

examples
Mon frère ira à la piscine plus tard. My brother will go to the pool later.
J'aurai plus de temps demain. I will have more time tomorrow.
Gabriel devra prendre le train de huit heures. Gabriel will have to take the eight-o'clock train.
Les élèves enverront des lettres à leurs correspondants allemands. The students will send letters to their German penpals.
Vous serez en retard si vous ne partez pas tout de suite. You will be late if you don't leave right now.
Qu'est-ce que tu feras la semaine prochaine ? What will you do next week?
Il pleuvra toute la journée demain. It will rain all day tomorrow.
Nous ne pourrons pas aller à la réunion de dix heures. We won't be able to go to the ten-o'clock meeting.
Sabrina recevra un colis mardi. Sabrina will receive a package on Tuesday.
Demain, je saurai si j'ai réussi à l'examen. Tomorrow, I will know if I passed the exam.
Vous tiendrez la flamme pendant la cérémonie. You will hold the flame during the ceremony.
Mes cousins viendront chez moi pendant les vacances d'été. My cousins will come to my house during summer break.
Tu verras certainement une aurore boréale en Norvège. You will definitely see the northern lights in Norway.
Les invités ne voudront pas rentrer tard. The guests will not want to go home late.

When to Use the Future in French

The futur simple is used to talk about events that will happen in the future. The future tense can be used to express intentions, predictions, or conditions.

examples
Je fermerai la fenêtre avant de partir. I will close the window before I leave.
Il pleuvra beaucoup demain. It will rain a lot tomorrow.
Si tu ne finis pas tes légumes, tu n'auras pas de dessert. If you don't finish your vegetables, you won't have dessert.

The Future with When and As Soon As

In English, the present tense is used after the words when and as soon as. In French, however, the futur simple is used after quand(when), lorsque(when), dès que(as soon as), and aussitôt que(as soon as).

examples
Mon père ira à la boulangerie quand elle ouvrira. My dad will go to the bakery when it opens.
Tu me montreras les photos lorsque tu les recevras. You will show me the pictures when you receive them.
Judith se couchera dès qu'elle arrivera chez elle. Judith will go to bed as soon as she gets home.
Léon me téléphonera aussitôt qu'il saura quelle note il a eue à l'examen. Léon will call me as soon as he finds out what grade he got on his exam.

examples

Mon père ira à la boulangerie quand elle ouvrira.

My dad will go to the bakery when it opens.

Tu me montreras les photos lorsque tu les recevras.

You will show me the pictures when you receive them.

Judith se couchera dès qu'elle arrivera chez elle.

Judith will go to bed as soon as she gets home.

Léon me téléphonera aussitôt qu'il saura quelle note il a eue à l'examen.

Léon will call me as soon as he finds out what grade he got on his exam.

French Conversation

Let's take a look at an example of a French conversation using the futur simple! Charlène and Joséphine are two coworkers discussing an upcoming business trip to Paris.

Charlène:

Bonjour, Joséphine ! Tu viens à Paris avec nous la semaine prochaine ?

Hello, Joséphine! Are you coming to Paris with us next week?

Joséphine:

Bonjour, Charlène ! Oui, mais je ne prendrai pas le train avec vous. J'irai à Paris en voiture.

Hello, Charlène! Yes, but I won't be taking the train with you all. I'll go to Paris by car.

Charlène:

En voiture ?

By car?

Joséphine:

Oui, ce sera plus pratique pour moi. Je pourrai aller rendre visite à mon frère qui vit en banlieue.

Yes, it will be more convenient for me. I'll be able to go visit my brother who lives in the suburbs.