The Future Tense- Le Futur Simple

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The 'Futur Simple' really lives up to its name- it is extremely simple.
It is used for describing events that will happen, usually after the next 24 hours.
It is formed by adding the appropriate endings to the stem of the verb.

'er' and 'ir' verbs
For these verbs, use the whole infinitive as the stem.

're'
For these verbs, knock off the 'e'
Vendre- vendr

Add endings:

Je- ai
Tu- as
Il- a
Elle- a
On- a
Nous- ons
Vous- ez
Ils- ont
Elles- ont

You may notice these endings are similar to avoir (to have).

Example:

Partir- to leave

Je partirai
Tu partiras
Il partira
Elle partira
On partira
Nous partirons
Vous partirez
Ils partiront
Elles partiront

A lot of verbs which are irregular in the present are regular in the future.
For example, lire (to read) is irregular in the present, but its stem in the future follows the same rule as 're verbs' i.e. je lirai- I will read

Attendre- to wait

J'attendrai
Tu attendras
Il attendra
Elle attendra
On attendra
Nous attendrons
Vous attendrez
Ils attendront
Elles attendront

Irregular Stems:
(There aren't many, there are about 24- and I'll only give 13 or 14 of them)

1. Être- ser; ce sera- it will be
2. Avoir- aur; j'aurai- I will have
3. Aller- ir; tu iras- you will go
4. Faire- fer; il fera- he will make/ do
5. Savoir- saur; elle saura- she will know
6. Voir- verr; on verra- one will see
7. Pouvoir- pourr; nous pourrons- we will be able to
8. Vouloir- voudr; vous voudrez- you will want/ wish for
9. Venir- viendr; ils viendront- they will come
10. Pleuvoir*- pleuvr; il pleuvra*- it will rain (ONLY FORM YOU CAN USE THIS)
11. Falloir*- faudr; il faudra- it will be necessary (ONLY FORM YOU CAN USE THIS)
12. Envoyer- enverr; j'enverrai- I will send
13. Devoir- devr; tu devras- you will have to

Note that all stems in the future these will end in 'r'.

There are two instances that the stems of regular verbs change:

1. 'Yer' verbs, e.g. essayer (the only exception being envoyer, which is irregular)

With these verbs, change the y to i

Example: Essayer= essaier; nous essaierons- we will try

2. The verbs that take an è, e.g. se promener, acheter

For these, the e that usually takes an è in the present tense, will also take one in the future.
Example: acheter= achèter; j'achèterai- I will buy
Se promener= se promèner; vous vous promènerez- you will walk


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