-aré/-arás/-ará/-aremos/-aréis/-arán
Future Tense -AR Verbs
Add -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis or -án to the full infinitive: hablaré, hablarás and so on. The tense can express what will happen or a present conjecture.
How It Works
The simple future tense (el futuro simple) is used to talk about actions that will happen in the future. It's equivalent to "will + verb" in English.
Formation:
The future tense is one of the easiest to conjugate in Spanish because the endings are the same for all regular -ar, -er, and -ir verbs, and you add them directly to the infinitive form.
For -ar verbs, the structure is: Infinitive + Future Ending
Let's use the verb hablar (to speak) as an example:
- yo: hablar + é → hablaré (I will speak)
- tú: hablar + ás → hablarás (you will speak)
- él/ella/usted: hablar + á → hablará (he/she/you will speak)
- nosotros/as: hablar + emos → hablaremos (we will speak)
- vosotros/as: hablar + éis → hablaréis (you all will speak)
- ellos/ellas/ustedes: hablar + án → hablarán (they/you all will speak)
Usage:
1. Predictions or future events: El programa terminará pronto. (The show will end soon.)
2. Promises or intentions: Te llamaré más tarde. (I will call you later.)
3. Scheduled events: La conferencia empezará a las diez. (The conference will begin at ten.)
The ir + a + infinitive construction also expresses future events. The choice depends on context, region and the speaker’s perspective, rather than a fixed near/distant or less/more certain distinction. In much American conversation, ir a is especially frequent for future reference.
Present conjecture: Estará en casa ahora. means “He or she is probably at home now.” The future form does not necessarily refer to a later time.
Vos commonly shares the tú future form: vos hablarás.
Note: While the endings are regular, some very common verbs have irregular stems in the future tense (e.g., tener → tendr-), but they still use these same endings.
Examples (5)
- Yo hablaré con el profesor mañana.
I will speak with the professor tomorrow.
Word by Word: I will-speak with the professor tomorrow.
- ¿Tú viajarás a España el próximo año?
Will you travel to Spain next year?
Word by Word: You will-travel to Spain the next year?
- Ella comprará un coche nuevo.
She will buy a new car.
Word by Word: She will-buy a car new.
- Nosotros caminaremos por el parque esta tarde.
We will walk through the park this afternoon.
Word by Word: We will-walk through the park this afternoon.
- Ellos terminarán el proyecto la semana que viene.
They will finish the project next week.
Word by Word: They will-finish the project the week that comes.
Common Mistakes
Removing the '-ar' ending before adding the future ending, like in the present tense.
Yo hablé con él mañana.Yo hablaré con él mañana.The future tense is formed by adding the ending to the full infinitive ('hablar'), not the stem ('habl-'). The incorrect example 'hablé' is actually the preterite (past) tense for 'yo'.
Omitting the accent when the intended meaning is future: she will speak.
Ella hablara con su jefe.Ella hablará con su jefe.For the intended future meaning, use hablará. Hablara is a valid imperfect subjunctive form in other constructions, but does not express that intended future indicative meaning. In this six-person future table, only nosotros lacks a written accent.
How It Connects
Learn This First
To learn the future tense for -ar verbs, you need to be comfortable with subject pronouns to know who is performing the action. You should also understand the concept of verb conjugation in the present tense, as the future tense follows a similar logic of adding specific endings to a base form (in this case, the infinitive).
- yo/tú/él/ella/ustedSubject Pronouns (Singular)
Understanding singular subject pronouns is essential for identifying which person the future tense endings correspond to.
Foundations - nosotros/vosotros/ellos/ellas/ustedesSubject Pronouns (Plural)
Understanding plural subject pronouns is necessary to apply the correct plural future tense endings.
Foundations - -o/-as/-a/-amos/-áis/-anPresent Tense -AR Verbs
Familiarity with the basic conjugation system for -ar verbs provides the foundation for learning more advanced tenses like the future.
Level 1
Related Patterns
- ir + a + InfinitiveNear Future
Both ir a hablar and hablaré can refer to future events. Distance in time and certainty do not impose a fixed choice; context, region and the intended perspective matter.
Level 1 - -eré/-erás/-erá/-eremos/-eréis/-eránFuture Tense -ER Verbs
These are the future tense endings for -ER verbs. The endings themselves are identical to the -AR endings; they are just added to the infinitive of an -ER verb instead.
Level 3 - -iré/-irás/-irá/-iremos/-iréis/-iránFuture Tense -IR Verbs
These are the future tense endings for -IR verbs. Just like with -ER verbs, the endings are the same as for -AR verbs, demonstrating the regularity of the future tense endings across all verb types.
Level 3 - diré/haré/podré/pondré/querré/sabré/saldré/tendré/vendréIrregular Future Stems
While the endings for the future tense are regular, many common verbs have irregular stems. This pattern shows the new stems you must use for verbs like 'decir' (dir-), 'hacer' (har-), and 'tener' (tendr-) before adding the same future endings.
Level 3 - Future of Probability
Besides talking about the future, this tense is also used to express probability or conjecture about the present. For example, '¿Dónde estará María?' means 'I wonder where Maria is?' or 'Where could Maria be?'.
Level 3
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Practice -aré/-arás/-ará/-aremos/-aréis/-arán in Bubblegum
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