Lesson 27: Two futures — ir a + infinitive and Futuro Simple

Part 1: Why two futures?

English actually has the same split — you just don't notice it:

English	Spanish	Flavor
I'm going to eat.	Voy a comer.	near, planned, conversational
I will eat.	Comeré.	promise, prediction, formal

The 90% rule: in everyday spoken Spanish, 8 times out of 10 people say voy a + inf. The morphological future (futuro simple) sounds a touch more "written" or "formal", but it's still essential for predictions, promises, and the famous "future of probability".

Think of it this way: ir a + inf = "going to + verb" (direct map from English) and futuro simple = "will + verb" (a touch more distant, more committed, more written).

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Part 2: Ir a + infinitive — the near future

This is the most common future construction in spoken Spanish. The formula couldn't be simpler:

[ir in the present] + a + [infinitive]

You already know ir:

Person	ir	+ a + inf
yo	voy	voy a hablar
tú	vas	vas a comer
él / ella / usted	va	va a llover
nosotros	vamos	vamos a salir
vosotros	vais	vais a ver
ellos / ustedes	van	van a venir

When to use ir a

• Immediate plan: Voy a llamar a mi madre. — I'm going to call my mom.
• Intention: Vamos a estudiar español. — We're going to study Spanish.
• Obvious prediction (you can see it coming): Mira el cielo — va a llover. — Look at the sky — it's going to rain.
• Decision made on the spot: Vale, voy a hacerlo. — OK, I'll do it.

Time markers that pair with ir a

ahora (now), en un momento (in a moment), dentro de poco (shortly), esta tarde (this afternoon / evening), esta noche (tonight), mañana (tomorrow), pronto (soon).

Trap! Don't confuse voy a la tienda (I'm going to the store — actual movement) with voy a comprar pan (I'm going to buy bread — future intention). The first is ir meaning "to go". The second is ir a + infinitive meaning "going to do".

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Part 3: Futuro Simple — the morphological future

Formation — endings

Take the whole infinitive (do NOT drop -ar/-er/-ir!) and glue endings onto it. The endings are the same for all three classes. This is a Spanish gift — no class-by-class table to memorize.

Person	hablar	comer	vivir
yo	hablaré	comeré	viviré
tú	hablarás	comerás	vivirás
él / ella / usted	hablará	comerá	vivirá
nosotros	hablaremos	comeremos	viviremos
vosotros	hablaréis	comeréis	viviréis
ellos / ustedes	hablarán	comerán	vivirán

Memorize the endings in one breath: -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án. Tilde on every form EXCEPT nosotros (-emos). The stress falls on the ending in every form — that's why the tildes appear.

When to use Futuro Simple

• Prediction, forecast: El año que viene la economía crecerá. — Next year the economy will grow.
• Promise, commitment: Te llamaré, te lo prometo. — I'll call you, I promise.
• Distant, vague future: Algún día viviré en España. — Someday I'll live in Spain.
• Written register: news, articles, weather forecasts — always futuro simple.

Time markers that pair with Futuro Simple

mañana / pasado mañana, la semana / el mes / el año que viene (or la próxima…), en dos días, en una semana, dentro de un año, algún día, en el futuro. (Full list in Part 8.)

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Part 4: 12 irregular stems in Futuro Simple

The endings are identical (-é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án). But for these 12 verbs, the stem is not the full infinitive — you have to memorize the replacement. Twelve verbs total. Drill them like a mantra.

Group A: "shaved" (the vowel of the infinitive ending drops)

Infinitive	Stem	yo form	Meaning
haber	habr-	habré	(auxiliary for perfecto)
poder	podr-	podré	I'll be able to
querer	querr-	querré	I'll want (watch: rr!)
saber	sabr-	sabré	I'll know / find out
caber	cabr-	cabré	I'll fit

Group B: "d slots in" (-er/-ir → -dr-)

Infinitive	Stem	yo form	Meaning
poner	pondr-	pondré	I'll put
salir	saldr-	saldré	I'll leave / go out
tener	tendr-	tendré	I'll have
valer	valdr-	valdré	I'll be worth
venir	vendr-	vendré	I'll come

Group C: "completely rebuilt"

Infinitive	Stem	yo form	Meaning
decir	dir-	diré	I'll say
hacer	har-	haré	I'll do / make

Big news: these same 12 stems also drive the conditional (Lesson 28). Learn them now and you get half of next lesson for free.

Full paradigm — example with tener

tendré, tendrás, tendrá, tendremos, tendréis, tendrán — same endings as the regulars, just glued to a different stem.

Scale — say all 12 yo-forms out loud without pauses

diré — haré — podré — pondré — querré — sabré — saldré — tendré — valdré — vendré — cabré — habré

Repeat 5 times in a row. Then 5 more times with tú: dirás — harás — podrás — pondrás — querrás — sabrás — saldrás — tendrás — valdrás — vendrás — cabrás — habrás.

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Part 5: Derived verbs inherit the stem

Any prefixed verb built on one of the 12 follows the parent: componer, suponer, proponer → -pondr- (supondré); obtener, contener, mantener, detener → -tendr- (obtendré); deshacer, rehacer → -har- (desharé); contradecir, predecir → -dir- (predirá); convenir, prevenir, intervenir → -vendr- (convendrá).

Learn 12 stems — get hundreds of verbs for free.

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Part 6: Futuro of probability — NOT about the future

This is the most surprising use of Futuro Simple. When a Spanish speaker doesn't know something and wants to make a guess about right now, they reach for the future tense.

Spanish	Literal	Real meaning
¿Qué hora será?	"What hour will it be?"	I wonder what time it is.
Serán las cinco.	"They will be five."	It must be around five.
¿Dónde estará Juan?	"Where will Juan be?"	Where could Juan be?
Estará en casa.	"He'll be at home."	He's probably at home.
Tendrá unos cuarenta años.	"He'll have about forty years."	He must be around forty.

The English equivalent: "must be", "probably", "I bet" — these are Spanish's Futuro Simple, used to express present-time conjecture. It's not about the future at all — it's about uncertainty in the present.

Compare: — Juan está en casa. — Juan is at home. (I know for a fact.) — Juan estará en casa. — Juan must be at home. (a guess about now) — Juan va a estar en casa. — Juan is going to be home. (a plan for the future)

English mirror: English does this too, just less systematically. "That'll be the postman" when the doorbell rings = "It must be the postman" = exactly Será el cartero. You already have the instinct — Spanish just uses it more often.

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