Le futur simple: the future tense in French
- When to use the futur simple in French
- How to conjugate the futur simple in French
- Exceptions to the conjugation rules
- Online exercises to improve your French
- Lingolia Plus French
What is the futur simple?
Le futur simple corresponds to the will-future tense in English. We mostly use this tense to talk about future plans or intentions, as well as to make predictions about what may occur in the future. We conjugate the future tense by adding the endings -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez and -ont to the infinitive of the verb.
Learn everything you need to know about the futur simple in French grammar with Lingolia’s quick and easy examples, then put your knowledge to the test in the exercises.
Example
- Demain, je rangerai les dossiers.
- Tu ne finiras jamais en une journée.
- Est-ce que tu pourras m’aider? Si on range à deux, on finira plus vite.
When to use the futur simple in French
We use the futur simple in the following cases:
- to talk about future intentions
- Example:
- Demain je rangerai les dossiers.Tomorrow I’ll sort the files.
- to make suppositions or predictions about the future
- Example:
- Tu ne finiras jamais en une journée.You’ll never finish that in one day.
- in conditional sentences (if sentences)
- Example:
- Si on range à deux, on finira plus vite.If we tidy up together, we’ll be done faster.
How to conjugate the futur simple in French
To conjugate the futur simple, we take the infinitive of the verb and add the following endings (for -re verbs, we remove the final e):
| Person | -er verbs | -ir verbs | -re verbs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person singular (I) | j’aimerai | je finirai | je vendrai |
| 2nd person singular (you) | tu aimeras | tu finiras | tu vendras |
| 3rd person singular (he/she/it) | il/elle/on aimera | il/elle/on finira | il/elle/on vendra |
| 1st person plural (we) | nous aimerons | nous finirons | nous vendrons |
| 2nd person plural (you) | vous aimerez | vous finirez | vous vendrez |
| 3rd person plural (they) | ils/elles aimeront | ils/elles finiront | ils/elles vendront |
The verbs avoir and être are irregular in the futur simple.
| Person | avoir | être |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person singular (I) | j’aurai | je serai |
| 2nd person singular (you) | tu auras | tu seras |
| 3rd person singular (he/she/it) | il/elle/on aura | il/elle/on sera |
| 1st person plural (we) | nous aurons | nous serons |
| 2nd person plural (you) | vous aurez | vous serez |
| 3rd person plural (they) | ils/elles auront | ils/elles seront |
To see the conjugation of any French verb in the futur simple, go to our verb conjugator.
Exceptions to the conjugation rules
- A short e in the word stem receives a grave accent (accent grave) in the futur simple
- Example:
- peserto weigh – je pèserai
- modelerto model – je modèlerai
- Some verbs double their consonants.
- Example:
- jeterto throw – je jetterai
- For some verbs ending in -rir, the i is omitted before adding the future ending.
- Example:
- courirto run – je courrai
- mourirto die – je mourrai
- For verbs ending in -yer, the y becomes an i in the futur simple. (For verbs ending in -ayer, both y and i are permitted)
- Example:
- employerto employ – j’emploierai, tu emploieras, il emploiera, nous emploierons, vous emploierez, ils emploieront
payerto pay – je payerai/paierai
- Verbs ending in -oir are irregular in the futur simple, as are aller, envoyer, faire and venir. Check their conjugation in the list of irregular verbs.
- Example:
- pouvoirto be able to – je pourrai, tu pourras, il pourra, nous pourrons, vous pourrez, ils pourront