{"id":29885,"date":"2018-03-27T05:21:24","date_gmt":"2018-03-27T03:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=29885"},"modified":"2018-04-10T02:54:01","modified_gmt":"2018-04-10T00:54:01","slug":"french-grammar-back-to-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/french-grammar-back-to-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"French Grammar – Back to the future"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week I kicked off a short series of posts on useful French grammar topics that sometimes get ignored. This week we head back to the future* with a look at a way to talk about upcoming actions and events that is as easy as the pass\u00e9 r\u00e9cent <\/strong>that we looked at last week.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Le futur proche<\/strong> (The near\/immediate future<\/em>)<\/p>\n

The futur proche,<\/strong> as the name implies**, is used for talking about actions, events, or plans for the immediate future. When speaking, it is almost interchangeable with its more formal cousin the futur simple<\/strong><\/a>. \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Le futur proche<\/strong> is formed using the present tense form of the verb aller<\/strong> (to go)<\/em><\/a> + the infinitive form of whatever verb you want. Let’s take a look at some examples:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
Fran\u00e7ais<\/b><\/th>English<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Je vais manger chez mes parents ce soir.<\/b>
Requested file could not be found (error code 404). Verify the file URL specified in the shortcode.<\/div><\/td>
I'm going to eat at my parent's house tonight. <\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Qu'est-ce que tu vas faire ce week-end?<\/b>
Requested file could not be found (error code 404). Verify the file URL specified in the shortcode.<\/div><\/td>
What are you going to do this weekend?<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
On va \u00eatre en retard si l'on ne se d\u00e9p\u00eache pas.<\/b>^
Requested file could not be found (error code 404). Verify the file URL specified in the shortcode.<\/div><\/td>
We're going to be late if we don't hurry up.<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nous allons faire du ski aux vacances d'hiver.<\/b>^^
Requested file could not be found (error code 404). Verify the file URL specified in the shortcode.<\/div><\/td>
We're going skiing for winter break.<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Vous allez aimer ce film.<\/b>
Requested file could not be found (error code 404). Verify the file URL specified in the shortcode.<\/div><\/td>
You're going to like this film.<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Elles vont aller en bo\u00eete ce soir.<\/b>
Requested file could not be found (error code 404). Verify the file URL specified in the shortcode.<\/div><\/td>
They are going to a nightclub\/out dancing tonight.<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\n^ See this post<\/a> for the differences\/uses of ‘on’<\/em> vs. ‘l’on’.
\n^^ <\/em>Like the\u00a0pass\u00e9 r\u00e9cent<\/strong>,\u00a0le futur proche<\/strong> can be useful in differentiating the relative order of multiple events. “Cette ann\u00e9e nous allons faire du ski aux vacances d’hiver, mais l’ann\u00e9e prochaine nous irons \u00e0 la plage.”\/ “This year we’re going skiing for winter break, but next year we will go to the beach.”
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00c0 suivre…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coming up next: the imperfect (l’imparfait)<\/em> followed by a little story to help us explore<\/a> the differences between the imparfait<\/em> and the pass\u00e9 compos\u00e9.<\/em><\/p>\n

* As John B. told us back in 2015<\/a>, the French title of the film “Back to the Future<\/em>” is “Retour vers le futur”<\/em>. John called the translation literal, but I think it’s interesting to compare the “to<\/em>” in the English version to the “vers<\/em>” in the French version. ‘Vers<\/em>‘ actually means ‘towards’ <\/em>or ‘in the direction of’. <\/em>It always feels to me like English ‘to the future’<\/em> is somehow more definitive than the French ‘vers le futur’<\/em> (‘towards the future’).
\n** ‘Proche’ is an adjective that describes the relative proximity or nearness of something or someone (‘un ami proche’ is a close friend . . . as opposed to ‘un ami pr\u00e8s de moi’ which is ‘a friend near me).<\/em><\/p>\n

Photo credit: Free stock photo from\u00a0www.pexels.com<\/a>\u00a0[CC0 license]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Last week I kicked off a short series of posts on useful French grammar topics that sometimes get ignored. This week we head back to the future* with a look at a way to talk about upcoming actions and events that is as easy as the pass\u00e9 r\u00e9cent that we looked at last week. Le…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":30043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6,13],"tags":[2149,408503,284,346,357,432,55189,12514],"class_list":["post-29885","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar","category-vocabulary","tag-france","tag-free-french-lesson","tag-free-french-lessons","tag-french-grammar","tag-french-language","tag-french-vocabulary","tag-grammaire-francaise","tag-vocabulaire-francais"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t