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Looking forward to il futuro (semplice) Posted by on May 7, 2021 in Grammar

Ciao, di nuovo! 

We are all looking forward to il futuro so I thought today we would discuss how to form the future tense in italiano.

In English we add an auxiliary verb to form the future: ‘will’. In Italian the endings simply change, similarly to other tenses.

To make the future tense, follow these steps:

For verbs ending in ‘ere‘ and ‘ire‘ – drop the last e, and then add the following endings:

For verbs ending in ‘are‘ the a first must change to an e, remove the last e, then add the following endings:

io – ò,

tu – ai

lui/lei – à

noi – emo

voi – ete

loro – anno

For example, the future of the verb parlare (to talk) is:

io parlerò (I will talk)

tu parlerai (you will talk, informal)

lui/lei parlerà (he/she will talk; you will talk, formal)

noi parleremo (we will talk)

voi parlerete (you will talk, plural)

loro parleranno (they will talk)

The future of the verb leggere (to read) is:

io leggerò (I will read)

tu leggerai (you will read, informal)

lui/lei leggerà (he/she will read; you will read, formal)

noi leggeremo (we will read)

voi leggerete (you will read, plural)

loro leggeranno (they will read)

The future of the verb finire (to finish, to end) is:

io finirò (I will finish)

tu finirai (you will finish, informal)

lui/lei finirà (he/she will finish; you will finish, formal)

noi finiremo (we will finish)

voi finirete (you will finish, plural)

loro finiranno (they will finish)

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The future tense is used:

  • To talk about something that will happen or will become true in the future, per esempio:

Alla fine di settembre partirò per Parigi. – At the end of September I will leave for Paris.

  • Making predictions, per esempio:

Domani ci sarà il sole. – It will be sunny tomorrow.

  • Making promises, per esempio: 

Da domani, studierò di più! – From tomorrow, I will study more

  • To express a doubt or an uncertainty, per esempio:

Che ora sarà? Saranno le cinque. – What time can it be? It is probably five o’clock.

In spoken Italian it is more common to use the present tense to say what you are about to do, or what you will do in the near future, per esempio: 

Ti telefono più tardi – I’ll phone you later

Domani parto per Roma – Tomorrow I will leave for Rome

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Of course, there are irregular verbs! Eccoli:

andare (to go): andrò, andrai, andrà, andremo, andrete, andranno

avere (to have): avrò, avrai, avrà, avremo, avrete, avranno

bere (to drink): berrò, berrai, berrà, berremo, berrete, berranno

cadere (to fall): cadrò, cadrai, cadrà, cadremo, cadrete, cadranno

dovere (to have to): dovrò, dovrai, dovrà, dovremo, dovrete, dovranno

potere (to be able to): potrò, potrai, potrà, potremo, potrete, potranno

sapere (to know): saprò, saprai, saprà, sapremo, saprete, sapranno

vedere (to see): vedrò, vedrai, vedrà, vedremo, vedrete, vedranno

vivere (to live) : vivrò, vivrai, vivrà, vivremo, vivrete, vivranno

essere (to be): sarò, sarai, sarà, saremo, sarete, saranno

rimanere (to remain): rimarrò, rimarrai, rimarrà, rimarremo, rimarrete, rimarranno

tenere (to hold): terrò, terrai, terrà, terremo, terrete, terranno

venire (to come): verrò, verrai, verrà, verremo, verrete, verranno

volere (to want): vorrò, vorrai, vorrà, vorremo, vorrete, vorranno

Photo from Pixabay, CCO. San Galgano, Tuscany.

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About the Author: Bridgette

Just your average Irish-American Italo-Francophone. Client Engagement for Transparent Language.


Comments:

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    • Bridgette:

      @david body Hi David! My name is Bridgette and I work for Transparent Language on the Engagement team, but I also contribute to our blogs. I’m so happy to hear that you enjoy my blogs! I like to write them to help people while they are learning, and/or to interest them in learning. 🙂

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    • Bridgette:

      @Elliana Elliana, thank you so much for the kind message! I know the change was hard for a lot of people and I have definitely received not so kind messages in the time since, so this is really nice to hear. I’m certainly not perfect, but I’m trying and having fun while doing it. Grazie mille! 🙂


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