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With the New Year just behind us, I thought it would be fitting to introduce the future tense to you.

The tense that expresses all that you see possible in the coming years, that lets you pour out your resolutions, your plans to any Italian willing to listen.

When to use it

Just like in English, we use the future tense to express the things that may happen in the future.

The present tense

Just like in English as well, we can use the present tense to talk about the near future.

In English, we’ll say: “I’m going tomorrow.” or “I’m reading that book next week.”

Italian has the same construction.

Per esempio [same meaning as the English examples above]: “Vado domani.” or “Leggo questo libro la settimana prossima.”

You will always place a word that marks time before or after the present tense verb.

Other time words

— Dopodomani – The day after tomorrow

— L’anno prossimo – Next year

— Il mese prossimo – Next month

— Fra un anno – In one year

— Fra cinque giorni – In five days

Fra poco – In a little bit

How to use it

In order to form the future tense, you must drop the -e at the end of every verb and place one of the six possible endings.

The endings are:

— -ò

— -ai

— -à

— -emo

— -ete

— -anno

dare (to give)

— darò

— darai

— darà

— daremo

— darete

— daranno

fare (to make, do)

— farò

— farai

— farà

— faremo

— farete

— faranno

Farai la colazione per tutta la famiglia? – Will you make breakfast for the whole family?

stare (to stay, to be)

— starò

— starai

— starà

— staremo

— starete

— staranno

Si ammalerà se starà fuori tutto il giorno mentre piove. – He will get sick if he (will) stay outside all day while it rains.

Fai attenzione (Pay attention!)

When you have a verb that ends in -are, like amare (to love), you must change the -a within -are to an -e. So, conjugating amare would look like this:

— amerò

— amerai

— amerà

— ameremo

— amerete

— ameranno

Other unusual changes to know

To make sure that it sounds pretty when you say it, four types of verbs experience a spelling change when forming the future tense.

These verbs are the ones that end in:

— -care

— -ciare

— -gare

— -giare

Faticare (to work hard, struggle)

— faticherò

— faticherai

— faticherà

— faticheremo

— faticherete

— faticheranno

Abbracciare (to hug, embrace)

— abbraccerò

— abbraccerai

— abbraccerà

— abbracceremo

— abbraccerete

— abbracceranno

Spiegare (to explain)

— spiegherò

— spiegherai

— spiegherà

— spiegheremo

— spiegherete

— spiegheranno

Assaggiare (to taste, to sample)

— assaggerò

— assaggerai

— assaggerà

— assageremo

— assaggerete

— assaggeranno

Esempi

— Visiteremo il duomo a Firenze. – We will visit the duomo in Florence.

— Mangerò la torta di mele con i miei. – I will eat apple pie with my parents.

— Te lo darò. – I will give it to you.

— Leggerete quegli articoli a scuola. – You will read those articles at school.

— Partiranno per Milano dopo che Maria avrà finito la scuola. – They will leave for Milan after Maria has finished school.

— Frodo comincerà a camminare verso Mordor. – Frodo will start walking to Mordor.

Hm. That’s oddly specific.

When using the words appena (just, as soon as), quando (when), or se (if), you can use the future tense in the most important part of the sentence and the next most important part of the sentence.

— Mi telefonerà (non) appena arriverà negli Stati Uniti. – He will call me as soon as he arrives in the US.

— Ti leggerò il libro se sarai bravo oggi. – I will read you the book if you’re good today.

— La darà il pacchetto quando lei finirà il lavoro. – He will give her the package when she completes the job.

Irregular verbs

And of course, there are always going to be the lovely irregular verbs, the rebellious misfits.

— Here are 13 of the most important to know.

— Essere (to be)

— sarò

— sarai

— sarà

— saremo

— sarete

— saranno

Sarò contenta quando lui partirà. – I will be happy when he leaves.

Andare (to go)

— andrò

— andrai

— andrà

— andremo

— andrete

— andranno

Andranno a Torino in treno. – They will travel to Torino by train.

Avere (to have)

— avrò

— avrai

— avrà

— avremo

— avrete

— avranno

Avremo paura se Berlusconi si candiderà alle elezioni. – We will be scared if Berlusconi runs for office.

Dovere (should, must)

— dovrò

— dovrai

— dovrà

— dovremo

— dovrete

— dovranno

Dovrai venire in discoteca con noi se vorrai vedere Michele ballare. – You will have to come to a nightclub with us if you want to see Michael dance.

Potere (to be able to, can)

— potrò

— potrai

— potrà

— potremo

— potrete

— potranno

Pensi che potranno venire con noi al mercato? – Do you think they will be able to come with us to the market?

Sapere (to know)

— saprò

— saprai

— saprà

— sapremo

— saprete

— sapranno

Quando saprai i risultati del tuo esame? – When will you know your exam’s results?

Vivere (to live)

— vivrò

— vivrai

— vivrà

— vivremo

— vivrete

— vivranno

Vivrò comunque una serata speciale. – However, I’ll experience a special night. [source]

Volere (to want)

— vorrò

— vorrai

— vorrà

— vorremo

— vorrete

— vorranno

Sicuramente, vorranno diventare genitori al più presto. – Obviously, they’ll want to be parents as soon as possible.

Venire (to come)

— verrò

— verrai

— verrà

— verremo

— verrete

— verranno

Verranno alla mostra perché amano l’arte. – They will come to the show because they like art.

Bere (to drink)

— berrò

— berrai

— berrà

— berremo

— berrete

— berranno

Berrò vino rosso quando avrò sedici anni. – I will drink red wine when I am 16 years old.

What you need to pay attention to in the pronunciation

There are four areas that could change meaning for you that you must remember.

Let’s take the verb essere.

— Essere (to be)

— sarò –> Always place the stress on this final o. Make it obvious.

sarai

— sarà –> Always place the stress on this final a. Make it obvious.

— saremo –> Notice how there is ONE ‘m’ here. In the conditional tense, there are TWO.Make sure to place extra emphasis on the TWO ‘m’s’ in the conditional tense so you don’t get them confused. [stress on the “e”]

— sarete – stress is on the “e”

— saranno –> Make sure you pronounce those lovely double n’s. ALWAYS. The stress is on the SECOND “a.”

Your mini-challenge

Practice these verbs out loud by having a mini-conversation with yourself. Take three minutes and talk to yourself about what three things you’re planning on doing next month.

Any questions/comments? Drop ‘em in the comments below.