Le futur simple – Examples and exercises

Before beginning, let us look at the endings for “le future simple.” This will help you understand the content of this article better .

• ai
• as
• a
• ons
• ez
• ont

We will go through some of the conjugations later. So do not worry about it for now.

What is the difference between “le futur simple” and “le futur proche”?

We can begin by saying that “le futur proche” is more common. Why is that the case?

One reason is that this tense is easier to use. You just need to learn the different conjugations of the verb “aller.”

We use this tense to describe things that will most likely take place. In other words, you could say that it gives more weight to a statement.

Let us look at a couple of examples with “le future proche”:

• Elle va avoir un bébé – She is going to have a baby.*

*In this case, we assume that the woman is already pregnant.

Another common area of application is when something will happen in the near future.

For instance:

• Nous allons à la plage, tu veux nous accompagner? – We are going to the beach, do you want to join us?
• Je vais me coucher – I am going to bed.

I have written an article on le futur proche. 

Let us now focus on “future simple” and its areas of application.

When to use “Le Futur simple”

This tense is often used in combination with certain expressions. Let us look at one example:

• Quand elle aura son permis, elle conduira partout – She will drive everywhere when she has her permit.

In this phrase, both verbs “aura” and “conduira” are conjugated in the future simple tense. This is actually an important lesson.

We can use the present tense in one part of the phrase in English. In French, this is not possible.

It is also quite logical if you think about it.

You will drive everywhere when you have your license. However, you don’t have your license yet.

There are also other expressions where you should put both verbs in the future tense.

Let us look at a couple of them:

Dès que= As soon as

• Elle partira dès qu’on arrivera= She will leave as soon as we arrive.  

Lorsque= When

• Il sera content lorsqu’il recevra son bac= He will be happy when he graduates.

Tandis que= While, as

• Elle prononcera son discours tandis que nous ferons le dîner = She will hold a speech while we make diner.

These expressions are often seen in relation to “Le future simple.” There are, of course, some exceptions, which is often the case with the French language .

Try to remember that both parts of the sentence should be in the future tense, even if we can use the present tense in English.

Sometimes we tend to talk about future plans that will take place many years from now. In this case, we tend to use “le future simple” rather than “le future proche.”

For instance:

• Dans 5 ans, tu parleras couramment le francais – In 5 years, you will speak French fluently.

Si-phrases

Si-phrases represent another important area of application. So, what is a si-phrase? An English translation would be “if-phrases.”

There are strict rules for using these phrases in French. You should take some time to learn them, as it is difficult to speak a language without making predictions.

In this case, we will go against what we just have learned. I just mentioned that we need to put both phrases in the future tense when using expressions like “tandis que” and “lorsque.”

However, we can put one part of the phrase in the present tense when using a si-phrase.

This is much easier to explain with examples :

• Tu sera (futur simple) fort si tu t’entraîne (present tense) bien – You will be strong if you train well.
• Vous serez (futur simple) plus alerte si vous dormez (present tense) plus – You will be more alert if you sleep more.

Areas of application for both tenses

There are many areas of application where there is no clear difference.

In the beginning of the article, I mentioned that you should use “le future proche” for actions that will take place in the near future.

However, in many cases, you can also use “le future simple.” For instance:

• Elle va cueillir des pommes? – Is she going to pick apples?
• Elle cuillera des pommes? – Is she going to pick apples?

Like I said before, many French learners tend to use “le future proche.” There is a simple reason for this – it is easier.

You just have to learn the different conjugations of “aller.”

However, I would advise you to learn the conjugations for “le future simple.” This tense is very common in both writing and speech.

You will have difficulty understanding French if you are not aware of its conjugations.

Conjugation

The conjugation is easy to understand. You just need to take the infinitive verb forms from the different verb groups.

So, what is the infinitive form of a verb? And what is a verb group?

• Parler (Infinitive) – to speak (ER), (parler ends in ER)
• Finir (Infinitive)– to finish (IR), (finir ends in IR)
• Attendre (Infinitive)– to wait (RE), attendre ends in RE)

ER

Let us go through the process by using the verb ”Parler.” We just need to add the endings for “le future simple.” We don’t need to adjust the stem of the verb.

Do you remember the endings that I’ve listed in the beginning of the article?

1. ai
2. as
3. a
4. ons
5. ez
6. ont

This will give us:

• Je parlerai: I will speak
• Tu parleras
• Il/elle/on parlera
• Nous parlerons
• Vous parlerez
• Ils/elles parleront

It is quite easy when we don’t have to change the verb’s stem.

Let us look at another ER-verb. Let us pick “Donner,” which means “to give.”

• Je donnerai= I will give
• Tu donneras
• Il/elle/on donnera
• Nous donnerons
• Vous donnerez
• Ils/elles donneront

IR-verb

We can repeat this process for the IR-verbs.

Let us add the endings to “finir,” which means “to finish.” The endings will always be the same:

1. ai
2. as
3. a
4. ons
5. ez
6. ont

Which gives us:

• Je finirai: I will finish
• Tu finiras
• Il/elle/on finira
• Nous finirons
• Vous finirez
• Ils/elles finiront

RE

The RE-verb almost follows the same pattern. However, you need to remove the “e” from the end of the RE-verbs.

Let us look at “attendre,” which means “to wait”:

We remove the “e,” which gives us “attendr.”

Now we can add the endings, that are yet again the same:

• J’attendrai: I will wait
• Tu attendras
• Il/elle/on attendra
• Nous attendrons
• Vous attendrez
• Ils/elles attendront

Irregular verbs

I hope that you found the basic conjugation rules easy to understand. In fact, you don’t have to do much as long as you are familiar with the endings.

However, the irregular verbs will be a bit more challenging to remember. The endings will remain the same. The problem is that some of the stems are very irregular.

Let us look at some of them:

• être (to be)= ser
• aller (to go)= ir
• avoir (to have)= aur

There is really no logic to these stems. You simply must remember them by heart. However, I can comfort you by mentioning that we also use these stems for other tenses.

Let us see how “ser” look in “future simple.”:

• Je serai= I will be
• Tu seras
• Il/elle/on sera
• Nous serons
• Vous serez
• Ils/elles seront

Let us look at ”ir” as well:

• J’irai: I will go
• Tu iras
• Il/elle/on ira
• Nous irons
• Vous irez
• Ils/elles iront

In fact, there are a few irregular stems that are important to know. They can be seen everywhere in French, and not knowing them will make it very difficult to understand the language.

Here are four additional stems that are very important to remember:

• Faire (to do)= Fer
• Voir (to see)= Verr
• Pouvoir (to be able to – can)= Pourr
• Devoir (to must)= Devr

Exercises

Part 1

Part 2

Note: There is an additional futur tense called le futur antérieur. 

It corresponds to the English future perfect tense. 

Le futur antérieur is not crucial for being able to speak French. However, at some point you should learn it 🙂

What you should focus on going forward

You can choose to focus on different aspects of the future tense.

I would like to list the most important aspects in my opinion. These factors have helped me achieve fluency and be able to understand the language faster.

1. You should focus on learning the irregular stems that I’ve just mentioned. In French, we also use them for the conditional tense. You will therefore get some extra learning points just by knowing them .
2. In the beginning, I would suggest that you use “le future proche.” It’s easy to use, and it’s much easier to think of its conjugations when speaking French.
3. Try to remember the endings for “future simple.” You don’t have to use the tense when you are speaking. However, remembering the endings will make it easier for you to understand French.
4. Another benefit of knowing the endings is that you will be able to differentiate them from the conditional tense. As I just mentioned, the stems are the same; only the endings are different.

Please leave a comment if you have any questions. I enjoy answering questions as it helps me understand the grammar better as well.