The futur simple

Mode

Indicatif

Level

A2

Shape

Simple

Negation

ne … pas

Verbs in Phonique

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The futur simple is the tense of will. It is also, structurally, one of the friendliest tenses in French: the endings never vary, and for regular verbs the stem is just the infinitive.

How it’s formed

Take the infinitive and add the endings. For -re verbs, drop the final -e first.

-ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont

Those endings are the present tense of avoir - ai, as, a, avons, avez, ont - with the two plural forms clipped. That is not a coincidence, and it makes them almost free to learn.

Every future stem ends in -r, without exception. If your stem has no r, it is wrong.

The irregular stems

A dozen or so verbs replace the infinitive with their own stem. The endings never change - only the stem does, so this is a vocabulary problem, not a grammar one.

Verb	Stem	Example	Verb	Stem	Example
aller	ir-	j’irai	pouvoir	pourr-	je pourrai
avoir	aur-	j’aurai	savoir	saur-	je saurai
être	ser-	je serai	vouloir	voudr-	je voudrai
faire	fer-	je ferai	devoir	devr-	je devrai
venir	viendr-	je viendrai	voir	verr-	je verrai

When to use it

1. Plans and predictions. Demain, je partirai tôt. - Tomorrow I’ll leave early.
2. After quand and its relatives, where English uses a present tense. Quand j’aurai le temps, je t’appellerai. - When I have time, I’ll call you.
3. Formal instructions and rules. Vous remplirez ce formulaire. - You will fill in this form.
4. Polite commands, softer than an imperative. Tu me diras ce que tu en penses.

Point 2 is the one worth drilling. French is consistent about it in a way English is not: if the event is genuinely in the future, the verb after quand, lorsque, dès que or aussitôt que goes into a future tense. English says “when I have time” and French finds that odd.

In the negative

The futur simple is a simple tense, so ne … pas wraps the single verb: je ne partirai pas. The negative column in every table above shows the full set.

Common mistakes

Common questions

What's the difference between je vais partir and je partirai?

Both are future. Je vais partir (the futur proche, built with aller plus an infinitive) feels nearer, more certain, more conversational. Je partirai is more neutral and more written. In speech the futur proche is far more common - but the futur simple is what exams, formal writing and quand clauses expect.

Why do the endings look like avoir?

Because historically they are. The Romance future was built from the infinitive plus the present of habere - parler + ai → parlerai. Recognising ai, as, a, ons, ez, ont in the endings makes them nothing new to learn.

Do I really say quand j'aurai and not quand j'ai?

Yes, and it is the mistake English speakers make most. After quand, lorsque, dès que and aussitôt que, French puts a genuinely future event in a future tense: quand j’aurai le temps, where English says “when I have time”.

Which irregular stems are actually worth learning?

About a dozen, and they are all extremely common verbs - être, avoir, aller, faire, venir, pouvoir, savoir, vouloir, devoir, voir, falloir, envoyer. Learn those and the rest of French forms its future from the infinitive without complaint.