B1 · The future
The futur simple
Six endings where English has one word.
The stem is the infinitive itself; verbs in -re drop the e. Onto that go the endings -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont — which are the forms of avoir. The r before the ending is the giveaway: je parlerai, je finirai, j'attendrai.
English has no inflected future at all. «Will» is a separate word and it does not change for anybody: I will, she will, they will. So there is nothing to convert here — six new endings have to be learnt, and the useful shortcut is that they are avoir in disguise. That is not a coincidence: the Romance future was once «infinitive + to have», and the two words fused.
A handful of common verbs have a stem of their own: être → ser-, avoir → aur-, aller → ir-, faire → fer-, venir → viendr-, pouvoir → pourr-. Once the stem is known, the endings never vary.
Die Form
| I will speak | je parlerai |
| you will finish | tu finiras |
| he will wait | il attendra |
| we will be | nous serons |
| you will have | vous aurez |
| they will go | ils iront |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
The stem always ends in r.
Je te répondrai demain.I will answer you tomorrow.
Verbs in -re drop the e.
Nous prendrons le train.We will take the train.
After quand French uses the future where English uses the present.
Quand il arrivera, nous mangerons.When he arrives, we will eat.
The endings are the forms of avoir.
Vous verrez.You will see.
Woran man es erkennt
- quand
- dès que
- un jour
- plus tard
Beispielsätze
Nous partirons à six heures.We will leave at six.
Tu verras, ce sera facile.You will see, it will be easy.
Dès que je saurai, je vous appellerai.As soon as I know, I will call you.
Il n’y aura pas de réunion demain.There will be no meeting tomorrow.
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
After quand and dès que French puts the future when the thing is in the future. English puts the present: «when he arrives, we will eat». Carry that across and you write quand il arrive, which is grammatical and means «whenever he arrives» — a habit rather than a plan.
One «will» becomes six endings, and they are avoir.
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