le futur
You have become acquainted with the future in Chapter 4 when you studied the futur immédiat. French has two other future constructions: the futur simple and the futur antérieur. To form the futur simple of most verbs, use the infinitive as the stem and add the endings -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont. For -re verbs, drop the e from the infinitive before adding the endings. Here are some examples:
decider - to decide
je déciderai - I’ll decide
tu décideras - you’ll decide
il/elle décidera - he’ll/she’ll decide
nous déciderons - we’ll decide
vous déciderez - you’ll decide
ils/elles décideront - they’ll decide
choisir - to choose
je choisirai - I’ll choose
tu choisiras - you’ll choose
il/elle choisira - he’ll/she’ll choose
nous choisirons - we’ll choose
vous choisirez - you’ll choose
ils/elles choisiront - they’ll choose
répondre - to answer
je répondrai - I’ll answer
tu répondras - you’ll answer
il/elle répondra - he’ll/she’ll answer
nous répondrons - we’ll answer
vous répondrez - you’ll answer
ils/elles répondront - they’ll answer
The endings of the futur simple are the same for all verbs. However, some irregular verbs have irregular stems. You simply have to memorize them.
Aller - to go
j’irai - I’ll go
apercevoir - to notice
j’apercevrai - I’ll notice
avoir - to have
j’aurai - I’ll have
courir - to run
je courrai - I’ll run
devenir - to become
je deviendrai - I’ll become
devoir - must, to have to
je devrai - I’ll have to
envoyer - to send
j’enverrai - I’ll send
être - to be
je serai - I’ll be
faire - to do
je ferai - I’ll do
falloir - to have to
il faudra - one will have to
mourir - to die
je mourrai - I’ll die
pleuvoir - to rain
il pleuvra - it’ll rain
pouvoir - can, to be able to
je pourrai - I’ll be able to
recevoir - to receive
je recevrai - I’ll receive
revenir - to return, to come back
je reviendrai - I’ll return, I’ll come back
savoir - to know
je saurai - I’ll know
tenir - to hold
je tiendrai - I’ll hold
valoir - to be worth
il vaudra - it will be worth
venir - to come
je viendrai - I’ll come
voir - to see
je verrai - I’ll see
vouloir - to want
je voudrais - I’ll want
Some slight spelling modifications occur with some verbs. These are seen throughout all persons of the future conjugation.
acheter - to buy
j’achèterai - I’ll buy
appeler - to call
j’appellerai - I’ll call
employer - to hire
j’emploierai - I’ll use, I’ll hire
essuyer - to wipe
j’essuierai - I’ll wipe
jeter - to throw
je jetterai - I’ll throw
nettoyer - to clean
je nettoierai - I’ll clean
préférer - to prefer
je préférerai - I’ll prefer
As in English, the French future tense is used to describe future events.
Les étudiants passeront leurs examens en mai.
Students will take their exams in May.
Les cours recommenceront en décembre.
Courses will resume in December.
In a compound sentence in French, if the main clause is in the futur simple, the dependent clause, introduced by some conjunctions, will also be in the futur simple. Note that in English, such a dependent clause will be in the present tense.
aussitôt que - as soon as
dès que - as soon as
lorsque - when
quand - when
tant que - as long as
Elle ira à Paris quand elle aura le temps.
She’ll go to Paris when she has time.
Il nous dira lorsqu’il faudra parler.
He’ll tell us when we have to talk.
Elle vous préviendra dès qu’elle aura les résultats.
She’ll inform you as soon as she gets the result
Aussitôt qu’il arrivera, nous partirons.
As soon as he arrives, we’ll leave.
Elle vous téléphonera aussitôt qu’elle atterrira à Londres.
She’ll call you as soon as she lands in London.
Tant qu’il y aura du soleil, nous resterons sur la terrasse.
As long as the sun is out, we’ll stay on the terrace.
The future tense of être and avoir is sometimes used to express probability in the present, to indicate something that is likely or allegedly true.
L’étudiant n’est pas en classe. Il sera encore endormi.
The student is not in class. He is probably still asleep.
Le professeur n’a pas demandé nos devoirs. Il sera distrait.
The teacher did not ask for our homework. He’s probably distracted.
In a narration, the futur simple can be used to express a future idea from the standpoint of the past, as shown in the following examples. (Note that English uses a conditional form, would, in this case.)
Malheureusement, ses oeuvres ne seront reconnues qu’après sa mort.
Unfortunately, her works would become recognized only after her death.
Un des génies du dix-huitième siècle et il mourra dans la misère.
One of the geniuses of the eighteenth century, and he would die in misery.
The futur simple can be used instead of an imperative (command form) to achieve a less peremptory tone.
Vous voudrez bien lui envoyer ma réponse.
Please send him my answer.
Je vous demanderai de faire preuve de compassion.
Please show a little compassion.
Vous voudrez bien nous excuser.
Please excuse us.
The futur antérieur
The futur antérieur (future perfect) describes an action that will take place and be completed before another future action. To form this compound tense, use the future tense of avoir or être+ the past participle of the main verb. Agreement rules are the same as for the passé composé. Although it is rarely used in English, it must be used in French under certain circumstances.
Écrire - to write
j’aurai écrit - I’ll have written
tu auras écrit - you’ll have written
il/elle aura écrit - he/she will have written
nous aurons écrit - we’ll have written
vous aurez écrit - you’ll have written
ils/elles auront écrit - they’ll have written
devenir - to become
je serai devenu(e) - I’ll have become
tu seras devenu(e) - you’ll have become
il/elle sera devenu(e) - he’ll/she’ll have become
nous serons devenu(e)s - we’ll have become
vous serez devenu(e)(s) - you’ll have become
ils/elles seront devenu(e)s they’ll have become
Nous aurons résolu tous les problèmes d’ici la fin de l’année.
We’ll have solved all the problems by the end of the year.
Il aura enseigné le français toute sa vie.
He’ll have taught French all his life.
Sometimes you have a choice between the futur simple and the futur antérieur. When both clauses use the futur simple, it is implied that both actions take place simultaneously.
Elle vous téléphonera dès qu’elle finira son roman.
She’ll call you as soon as she finishes her novel.
If you want to mark an anteriority, use the futur antérieur.
Elle vous téléphonera dès qu’elle aura fini son roman.
She’ll call you as soon as she finishes (will have finished) her novel.
Dès que vous accepterez cette théorie, on en discutera plus longuement.
As soon as you accept this theory, we’ll discuss it at length.
Dès que vous aurez accepté cette théorie, on en discutera plus longuement.
As soon as you accept (will have accepted) this theory, we’ll discuss it at length.
The futur antérieur can also express the probability of a past action, in the same way that the futur simple can be used to express probability in the present.
Elle aura encore échoué à ses examens!
She probably failed her exams again!
Il aura encore brûlé le gigot d’agneau!
He probably burnt the leg of lamb again!
Ils auront manqué leur train.
They probably missed their train.
Son fils aura encore fait des bêtises!
His son probably got in trouble again!
The futur antérieur is also used after si, implying a completed action. Si means whether in this case.
Je me demande s’ils auront signé le contrat.
I wonder whether they’ll have signed the contract.
Je me demande si j’aurai tout réglé avant ce soir.
I am wondering whether I’ll have resolved everything by tonight.
Il se demande s’il aura terminé à temps.
He wonders whether he’ll have finished on time.
In French, the futur antérieur is never used after si implying a future condition. Use the present instead.
S’il a le temps, il passera vous voir.
If he has time, he’ll stop by to see you.
Si vous pouvez, envoyez-moi votre CV avant lundi.
If you can, send me your résumé before Monday.
Conjunctions used with the indicative mood
You have just seen examples of conjunctions frequently used with the futur simple and the futur antérieur. These include:
aussitôt que
as soon as
dès que
as soon as
lorsque
when
quand
when
tant que
as long as
Let’s learn a few more conjunctions followed by the indicative mood. In Chapter 13 we’ll study other conjunctions followed by the subjunctive mood.
alors que
while, whereas
après que
after
comme
as, since
étant donné que
given, in view of
maintenant que
now that
parce que
because
pendant que
while
puisque
since
si
if
sous prétexte que
under the pretext that
tandis que
whereas
vu que
given, in view of
As we saw earlier in this chapter, some conjunctions require the future tense in both the main and the dependent clauses.
When using another tense, the balance of tenses is the same as
with the other conjunctions.
Elle apprendra le russe quand elle sera en Russie.
She’ll learn Russian when she is in Russia.
Je t’écrirai dès que je serai à Rio.
I’ll write to you as soon as I am in Rio.
Dès qu’ils sortaient de l’école, ils allaient au stade.
As soon as they left school, they used to go to the stadium.
Il a fondu en larmes quand il a appris qu’il avait raté l’examen
He burst into tears when he found out he had failed the exam.
Puisque tu as le temps, aide-moi à finir mes devoirs.
Since you have time, help me finish my homework.
Il lisait pendant qu’elle écrivait.
He was reading while she was writing.
Étant donné que vous avez démissionné, nous ne pouvons rien faire pour vous.
Given that you resigned, we cannot do anything for you.
Il t’a fait ce cadeau parce que tu le mérites.
He gave you this present because you deserve it.
Comme il pleuvait, ils sont partis.
Since it was raining, they left .
Le téléphone a sonné alors que j’étais dans mon bain.
The phone rang while I was in my bath.
Si tu veux y aller, appelle-moi!
If you want to go there, call me!