Futur - French Future Tense
Using the French Future
In French, there are two ways to express an event that will occur in the future: le futur and le futur proche.
Le futur is used for upcoming events. It is usually translated as will.
J'irai au magasin demain - I will go to the store tomorrow.
Ils mangeront sur l'avion - They will eat on the plane.
After après que (after), aussitôt que (as soon as), dès que (as soon as), espérer que (to hope that), lorsque (when), quand (when), and une fois que (once), when the action of the verb is in the future, the future tense is used in French, whereas in English the present tense is used.
Quand il arrivera, nous mangerons. - When he arrives, we will eat.
Je vous téléphonerai dès que je pourrai. - I'll call you as soon as I can.
Quand vs Lorsque All
about conjunctions
Le futur can also be used in si clauses.
Si j'ai le temps, je le ferai - If I have time, I will do it.
Je le ferai si j'ai le temps - I will do it if I have time.
In journalism and other factual narration, the future is often used even though the events are in the past.
Né en Martinique, Aimé Césaire étudiera à Paris et redécouvrira l'Afrique - Born in Martinique, Aimé Césaire studied in Paris and rediscovered Africa.
Le futur is used for polite orders and requests, in place of the vous form of the imperative - learn more.
Le futur proche is used when the upcoming event is to occur in the near future. It is usually translated as going to. It is formed by simply conjugating the verb aller (to go) and adding the infinitive of the action that is about to occur.
Je vais aller au magasin - I'm going to go to the store
Ils vont manger dans 5 minutes - They are going to eat in 5 minutes
The distinction between le futur and le futur proche is not always clear - there are many situations where you can use either one.
| Conjugating the French Future Test on French Future |
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