Les temps du futur
Le futur proche
The near future is the tense one uses to talk about an action that is about to happen, like the name suggests, in a short period of time. It is built by adding the verb aller (to go) conjugate in the indicative present tense and the infinitive form of the second verb that expresses the action.
je vais, tu vas, il va, nous allons, vous allez, ils vont
It is used specifically when this action is not only close but also linked to the moment the sentence is pronounced and expresses a high level of confidence that the action will in fact be done.
Tu vas monter dans ta chambre - you are going to go up to your room
Ils vont arriver d'ici une heure - they are going to be here in an hour
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Le futur simple
The simple future refers to an action that will happen at some point in the future and still has the possibility to be cancelled or forgotten about. Be warned: the conjugation looks quite similar to the present conditional but it's rather simple: for regular verbs, all you have to do is keep the infinitive and add imperfect endings.
The irregular verbs are the auxiliaries, aller, -ir verbs accueillir, acquérir, conquérir, cueillir, recueillir, tenir, venir (+ derivatives: contenir, retenir, advenir, devenir...) and -oir verbs mouvoir, prévoir, pouvoir, pourvoir, s'asseoir, savoir, valoir, voir.
La conjugaison
-rai, -ras, -ra, -rons, -rez, -ont
je marcherai, tu marcheras, il marchera, nous marcherons, vous marcherez, ils marcheront
je finirai, tu finiras, il finira, nous finirons, vous finirez, ils finiront
je courrai, tu courras, il courra, nous courrons, vous courrez, ils courront
je ferai, tu feras, il fera, nous ferons, vous ferez, ils feront
Auxiliaries: je serai, tu seras, il sera, nous serons, vous serez, ils seront + j'aurai, tu auras, il aura, nous aurons, vous aurez, ils auront
N.B. -eler and -eter verbs get an accent and consonant ajustements: appeler > j'appellerai, acheter > j'achèterai; in -yer verbs the y turns into i: essuyer > j'essuyerai
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Le futur antérieur
The perfect future is a compound tense made of an auxiliary conjugated in the simple future and a past participle.
je serai, tu seras, il sera, nous serons, vous serez, ils seront
j'aurai, tu auras, il aura, nous aurons, vous aurez, ils auront
It can either be used alone or followed by another clause conjugated in the simple future that refers to what will happen depending on the first action.
Vous aurez fini de manger dans dix minutes - you'll be done eating in ten minutes
Je serai arrivée quand tu te réveilleras - I will have arrived when you'll wake up
Movie: Le bleu est une couleur chaude, Abdellatif Kechiche, 2013
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