The Future Tense: Grammar Explanation 1
How do I build the
future tense in French?
That’s
easy! It’s
“aller + the
infinitive”!
There has to
be some other
way…
Indeed there
is. Read on…
Take the stem of the verb, as follows:
-ER Verbs: the infinitive. So…… jouer = jouer-IR Verbs:
the infinitive. So….. finir = finir-
-RE verbs:
the infinitive minus the "e". So….. attendre = attendr-
Now add the endings below:
je ....................... ai
tu ....................... as
il ....................... a
nous ................. ons
vous ................. ez
ils ...................... ont
To remember these endings:
They are the verb "avoir" in the
present tense, minus the "av" in the
nous and vous forms. i.e.
j'ai
tu as
il a
nous (av)ons
vous (av)ez
ils ont
The FutureTense: Grammar Explanation 2
EXCEPTIONS:
There are a number of verbs that have irregular
stems. These are the most common:
Infinitive in
French
Infinitive in
English
Future stem
acheter
To buy
achèter-
avoir
To have
aur
être
To be
ser
aller
To go
ir
faire
To do/make
fer
courir
To run
courr
devoir
To have to
devr
envoyer
To send
se lever
To get up
pouvoir
To be able
pourr
recevoir
To receive
recevr
savoir
To know
saur
venir
To come
viendr
voir
To see
verr
vouloir
To want
voudr
enverr
se lèver