The future in Spanish does not have many complications and is not complicated to learn. Read this little help for your Spanish courses and you will see that it is easy.
Who does not like to talk about the future? Today in our blog we will explain the different ways in which we can talk about the future in Spanish.
Let´s talk about Future
As we know, ir a + infinitivo, the imperfect future and the perfect future express the future. So, what difference is there between these three options?
Ir a + infinitivo. It usually indicates an immediate future, that is, close to the present or because we perceive action as something secure.
Mañana voy a casa de mis padres = Tomorrow I go to my parents’ house
Voy a comerme un bocadillo = I’m going to eat a sandwich
Imperfect future
It is usually used for a more distant or less probable future.
El año que viene iré a Francia = Next year I will go to France.
Tal vez iré esta noche a la fiesta = Maybe I’ll go to the party tonight.
Perfect future
Indicates an action completed in the future.
A las ocho ya habré comido = I’ll have eaten by eight.
That is, before eight o’clock the action of comer is done. However, if we say A las ocho comeré I do not indicate if the action is finished.
We must bear in mind that the difference between these three options is often in the nuance that we want to give our message, a nuance that, in many cases, makes a big difference. If we are interested in someone going to our party … Is it the same iré a tu fiesta that voy a ir a tu fiesta? If we meet someone to go out drinking … is it the same a las nueve habré cenado that a las nueve cenaré?
How to make hypoteses
In addition, there is a very interesting use of the imperfect future. We use the future to make hypotheses in the present!
Ángel no está en clase, estará enfermo. = Ángel no está en clase, a lo mejor está enfermo. Angel is not in class, he will be sick. = Angel is not in class, maybe he is sick.
whn we say estará enfermo we are making a hypothesis about the present and we do not refer to the future.
On the other hand, something similar happens with the perfect future. We use the imperfect future to make hypotheses in the past!
La calle está mojada, habrá llovido = La calle está mojada, a lo mejor ha llovido.
The street is wet, it will have rained = The street is wet, maybe it has rained.
When we say habrá llovido We are making a hypothesis about the past and we are not referring to the future.
We hope you liked this post and that it helps you to study Spanish. Soon our Spanish school El Rincón del Tándem will publish more posts on grammar. Meanwhile, this Friday we will talk about Christmas nativity scenes and where to find it in Valencia.
