The Future Tense – Le Futur
(The equivalent of “will” in English)
Formation
Simply take the INFINITIVE of the verb and add the appropriate ending
(for ‘–re’ verbs remove the ‘–e’ from the infinitive first)
Future Tense Endings
Je > -ai Nous > -ons
Tu > -as Vous > -ez
Il Ils > -ont
Elle > -a
On Elles > -ont
Match up the following verbs
Tu travailleras He will go out
Ils descendront We will sleep
Elles s’habilleront You will sing
Il sortira They will go down
On finira She will sell
Je danserai I will dance
Vous chanterez They will get dressed
Elle vendra You will work
Nous dormirons One will finish
Work out what these more obscure verbs mean
Je plierai =
Tu cacheras =
Il racontera =
Elle réussira =
On traduira =
Nous gagnerons =
Vous repasserez =
Ils chercheront =
Elles comprendront =
Write a few of your own obscure verbs here ↓
Irregulars : These have irregular stems. The endings remain the same
*Avoir - aur- *être - ser-
*Faire - fer- *aller - ir-
*Vouloir - voudr- *pouvoir - pourr-
*Devoir - devr- *venir - viendr-
*Savoir - saur- *voir - verr-
Mourir - mourr- courir - courr-
Tenir - tiendr- envoyer - enverr-
Recevoir - recevr- falloir - il faudra (il faut)
Translate these sentences
Ma sœur rangera notre chambre. Qu’est-ce qu’elle est gentille
Il finira ses devoirs après Home and Away
Nous rentrerons avant minuit. C’est promis
Je pense que je réussirai mes examens facilement
Demain j’enverrai la carte d’anniversaire à mon correspondant
My brother will play guitar at the concert (jouer)
I will find a good job and I will earn lots of money (trouver / gagner)
They will receive the letter tomorrow morning (recevoir)
You (plural) shan’t go to the ball, Cinderella! (aller)
I will be* 15 years old this year (avoir)
The Implied Future
This is a major difference between the French and English languages.
Quand = when dès que = as soon as
Lorsque = when aussitôt que = as soon as
When the above terms are used, implying what one will do when something else happens in the future, the future tense is used in both the main sentence and the subordinate clause.
Look at these illustrative sentences and note the difference between the English and French constructions…
When my parents arrive I will meet them at the airport
↓ ↓
present future
Lorsque mes parents arriveront je les rencontrerai à l’aéroport
↓
future future
I will leave as soon as the programme finishes
↓ ↓
future present
Je partirai dès que l’émission finira
↓ ↓
future future
When you arrive we will have dinner (arriver / dîner)
I will explain when she leaves (expliquer / partir)
She will win a gold medal when pigs might fly (gagner / les poules [avoir] les dents)