How do we use and form the future tense in Italian? Let's find out in today's article!
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The future tense in Italian is pretty easy to form, however its uses can be kind of tricky. Of course, the future is used to talk about future actions, but we need to be more specific than that to fully understand how to use the future in Italian correctly.
First of all, let's try to understand how to form the future.
You probably know that in order to conjugate a verb in Italian, you need to remove the ending of the infinitive. For instance, if we had to conjugate the verb partire in the present, we would remove the -ire ending and then add the endings of the present:
Parto
Parti
Parte
Partiamo
Partite
Partono
For the future it's not like that. We start off with the infinitive, get rid of the final -e and then add the endings of the future. The endings are the same for all conjugations (ARE, ERE, IRE) with a little twist for ARE verbs we will look at in a second! Let's look at the conjugation of partire in the future:
Io partirò
Tu partirai
Lui/Lei partirà
Noi partiremo
Voi partirete
Loro partiranno
Now, let's look at the conjugation of mettere:
Io metterò
Tu metterai
Lui/Lei metterà
Noi metteremo
Voi metterete
Loro metteranno
With ARE verbs, you have to remember to change the A of ARE into E. For example, let's conjugate the verb arrivare:
Io arriverò
Tu arriverai
Lui/Lei arriverà
Noi arriveremo
Voi arriverete
Loro arriveranno
There are some irregular verbs in the future tense, look at this page to learn more about some of them. But for now let's focus on a very important one: essere.
Io sarò
Tu sarai
Lui/Lei sarà
Noi saremo
Voi sarete
Loro saranno
Now let's look at when the future is used.
1. Future actions
The future is used to talk about future actions, of course! For example:
Domani arriveranno i miei amici da Londra. Tomorrow my friends from London will arrive.
However, when we talk about these kinds of future actions, that are close to us and "planned" we tend to use the present. So, we could also say:
Domani arrivano i miei amici da Londra.
If you are not sure about this use of the present, take a look at this video.
2. Projects
We use the future to talk about future projects or plans we have. For example:
L'anno prossimo mi iscriverò all'università. Next year I'm going to enroll at the university.
A gennaio inizierò un corso di italiano. In January I will start an Italian course.
Since these things might seem planned, the use of the present in this case is also acceptable, however when you're talking about future projects that are somewhat far in the future, the use of the future is recommended.
3. Making announcements
When there are announcements to be made in airports or train stations, the use of the future is very common.
Il treno arriverà con 20 minuti di ritardo al binario 10. The train will arrive 20 minutes late at Platform 10.
L'aereo partirà con 1 ora di ritardo al gate 12. The plane will leave 1 hour late at gate 12.
4. Promises
We use the future also to make promises. For example:
Non preoccuparti, ti aiuterò io a studiare l'italiano. Don't worry, I'll help you study Italian.
Ti prometto che sarò più gentile con te. I promise I will be nicer to you.
5. Predictions
We also use the future to make predictions. In this case, the present would be incorrect because we are talking about something we are not 100% sure about. For example:
Tra 30 anni tutte le macchine saranno elettriche. In 30 years all cars will be electric.
Se non combattiamo il riscaldamento globale, tra 50 anni l'aria sarà irrespirabile. If we don't fight global warming, in 50 years the air will be unbreathable.
There's also another interesting use of the future for doubts and suppositions, but I don't want this article to be overwhelming, so if you're interested in this topic, let me know!
If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message in the contact section of my website!
A presto,
Teacher Stefano
Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me!