Talking About the Future in Italian
How to form the Italian future tense, the important irregular stems, and the everyday shortcuts Italians use for future plans.
Italian has a true future tense, but in daily speech the present tense often does the work.
Regular future
Replace the final -e of the infinitive with the future endings. For -are verbs, change -a- to -e- as well:
| parlare | credere | dormire | |
|---|---|---|---|
| io | parlerò | crederò | dormirò |
| tu | parlerai | crederai | dormirai |
| lui / lei | parlerà | crederà | dormirà |
| noi | parleremo | crederemo | dormiremo |
| voi | parlerete | crederete | dormirete |
| loro | parleranno | crederanno | dormiranno |
Note the accent on -ò and -à.
Spelling changes
To keep the hard sound, verbs in -care and -gare add h:
- cercare → cercherò
- pagare → pagherò
Irregular stems
The endings stay the same, but the stem changes:
| Verb | Stem | Example |
|---|---|---|
| essere | sar- | sarò, sarai, sarà |
| avere | avr- | avrò |
| andare | andr- | andrò |
| fare | far- | farò |
| venire | verr- | verrò |
| potere | potr- | potrò |
| volere | vorr- | vorrò |
| dovere | dovr- | dovrò |
Everyday shortcuts
Italians often use other forms for the near future:
- The present tense: Domani vado a Roma. — Tomorrow I'm going to Rome.
- Stare per + infinitive: Sto per uscire. — I'm about to go out.
Useful time words
- domani — tomorrow
- dopodomani — the day after tomorrow
- la settimana prossima — next week
- l'anno prossimo — next year
- tra due giorni — in two days
The future of probability
Italian uses the future to guess about the present:
- Sarà a casa. — He's probably at home.
- Che ore saranno? — I wonder what time it is.
Examples
- Domani parlerò con il capo. — Tomorrow I'll talk to the boss.
- Verremo alla festa. — We'll come to the party.
- Faranno una pausa. — They'll take a break.
Tips
- Learn the regular endings first.
- Learn the eight irregular stems.
- Use the present tense for close plans, as Italians do.
English Italian Dictionary
Offline English–Italian dictionary with noun gender and accents handled properly
More about English Italian Dictionary
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