Italian future tense: futuro semplice (farò, andrò, sarò)

The futuro semplice is the Italian future tense. It usually corresponds to English “will”: «Domani pioverà» “It will rain tomorrow”, «Ti chiamerò stasera» “I’ll call you tonight”. Italians use it for predictions, promises and plans that are still open.

It is one word, not two: the future meaning is carried by the ending, -ò, -ai, -à and so on. The endings are the same for all verbs, and even irregular verbs only change their stem. One thing surprises English speakers: for fixed arrangements in the near future, Italians often prefer the plain present tense: «Sabato parto per Roma.»

Regular forms: one set of endings

Take the infinitive and drop the final -e: prendere → prender-, partire → partir-. For -are verbs, the a of the infinitive also changes to e: parlare → parler-. Then add the endings -ò, -ai, -à, -emo, -ete, -anno.

The io and lui/lei forms are stressed on the last syllable, so they always need a written accent: «parlerò», «parlerà». Without it, the word is misspelled.

Two spelling rules keep the sound of the infinitive. Verbs in -care and -gare add an h to keep the hard sound: cercare → cercherò, pagare → pagherò. Verbs in -ciare and -giare drop the i, which is no longer needed before e: cominciare → comincerò, mangiare → mangerò.

• Quest’estate visiteremo la Puglia. · This summer we’ll visit Puglia.
• Chi pagherà il conto? · Who’s going to pay the bill?
• Il concerto comincerà alle nove. · The concert will start at nine.

Irregular stems: sarò, avrò, andrò, verrò

Some very common verbs change their stem, but they keep the same endings. Learn the stem and the rest is automatic.

Many simply lose a vowel: andare → andrò, avere → avrò, dovere → dovrò, potere → potrò, sapere → saprò, vedere → vedrò, vivere → vivrò. Others get a double r: venire → verrò, volere → vorrò, bere → berrò, rimanere → rimarrò, tenere → terrò. Three short -are verbs keep their a: fare → farò, dare → darò, stare → starò. Essere has its own stem: sarò, sarai, sarà, saremo, sarete, saranno.

Future or present? Plans, predictions and arrangements

Use the future for predictions, including the weather: «Domani farà più freddo», «Vedrai, ti piacerà». Use it for promises and decisions: «Ti aiuterò io», «Ti scriverò appena possibile». And use it for plans that are less fixed or further away: «Forse andremo in Sicilia», «Un giorno imparerò a suonare la chitarra».

For arrangements that are already fixed, especially with a time expression, Italians usually say the present: «Domani parto alle sei e mezza», «Stasera ceniamo dai miei genitori», «Il treno parte alle 9:15». The future is not wrong there, but the present sounds more natural for something already settled.

Italian has no “going to” future. «Vado a fare la spesa» means you are actually going out to do the shopping, not that you plan to. For “I’m going to…”, use the present or the future: «Stasera guardo un film», «L’anno prossimo cambierò lavoro». For offers like “Shall I…?”, use the present: «Apro la finestra?»

After quando and appena, and the future of guessing

When quando (when) or appena (as soon as) refers to the future, careful Italian uses the future in both parts of the sentence, where English uses the present after “when”: «Quando arriverò a Roma, ti chiamerò» “When I get to Rome, I’ll call you”. In everyday speech the present is also very common in both parts: «Quando arrivo, ti chiamo». Both are correct. The same goes for se (if): «Se domani piove, restiamo a casa» and «Se domani pioverà, resteremo a casa».

The future also has a second job: guessing about the present. «Dov’è Marco? Sarà in ufficio.» means “He’s probably at the office”, not “he will be”. «Che ore sono? Saranno le dieci.» “It must be about ten.” At this level it is enough to recognise this use; it is covered in full as the future of probability.

• Appena finirò il corso, cercherò un lavoro in Italia. · As soon as I finish the course, I’ll look for a job in Italy.
• Quanti anni ha il nuovo collega? Avrà trent’anni. · How old is the new colleague? He must be about thirty.