In our articles we have already talked about the future tense, but we have something to add. We also want to combine all the material about the future tense in one place so that you do not look for information from different sources, but can save and print it. The future tense helps us to describe many things – facts, plans, intentions and dreams. Let’s see what “tools” we have for this.
Presente do indicativo
In general, we do not need to know the forms of the future tense, because we can put the meaning of the future tense into the phrase in the present tense. Are we talking about now or tomorrow it will become clear from the context, for exemple:
Amanhã digo-te se vou contigo ao cinema. (Tomorrow I will tell you whether I will go to the cinema with you.)
No próximo mês compramos um carro. (We will buy a car next month.)
It is enough to use the adverb of the future, and in some cases you can do without it, in order to understand when they are talking about the future using the present. Move on.
“Haver de” + infinitive
We remind you that this grammatical construction describes a plan for the future, which is sure to come true. Probably for many people there is always a percentage that the plan will not be implemented, but not for the Portuguese. That is why they invented a special form.
Hei de vir a Portugal no próximo verão. (I will go to Portugal next summer.)
Havemos de fazer um investimento em imobiliário. (We will make an investment in real state.)
Hão de abrir uma escola nesta cidade. (They will open a new school in this city.)
There is some truth in this. When a person sets himself up for the fact that his dreams will definitely come true. It is said that then the universe itself begins to help. So, you can take an example from the Portuguese in this matter!
Perifrastic Form “Ir + Infinitive”
The very first form of the future that we learn in Portuguese is the periphrastic form. Namely when two verbs participate in the transfer of meaning. In this case, this is the obligatory verb “ir” (to go) + the infinitive form of the main semantic verb. We will not dwell on this point for a long time, but simply look at the examples:
Tu vais comprar vinho e eu vou comprar comida. Assim vai ser justo. (You’ll buy wine, I’ll buy food. That will be fair.)
Amanhã vamos a Lisboa, por isso trata dos assuntos hoje. (Tomorrow we will go to Lisbon, so get busy today.)
We remind you that you can not say “vou ir” and “vou vir“. Instead, we just say “vou” and “venho” respectively. Of course, this rule applies to all pronouns, not just the pronoun “eu” (I).
Futuro Simples do Indicativo
Finally, we move on to the topic for which we are writing this article. This is the official form of the future tense, which is traditionally formed by changing the ending of the verb. How exactly, see the table below.
| Endings of verbs | |
| Eu | – ei |
| Tu | – ás |
| Ele, ela, você | – á |
| Nós | – emos |
| Eles, elas, vocês | – ão |
However, this time we add the right ending to the infinitive, and do not replace the endings “-ar, –er, –ir” with the ending from the table. Let’s see when and why Futuro Simples do Indicativo is used, if there is a simpler form from the previous paragraph.
• Official speech
Firstly, you can see the future tense in this form in newspapers, magazines, from country officials and in the news.
O presidente visitará o Jardim Zoológico de Lisboa na próxima semana. (The President will visit the Lisbon Zoo next week.)
Unlike the “ir + infinitivo” construction, this form is considered more formal.
• Save time
Pronouncing and writing verbs in this form is faster than using “ir + infinitivo” verbs. Therefore, a person does not necessarily put on airs when he expresses himself like that. He just saves time.
Amanhã estarei lá! = Amanha vou estar lá! (I’ll be there tomorrow!)
The choice is yours!
• Unanswered question
When a person knows that the interlocutor will certainly not be able to answer the question in the present tense, he uses Futuro Simples do Indicativo. That is, in this situation there is an exchange of opinions, not facts.
Estamos a bater à porta há um minuto. Ela estará em casa? (We’ve been knocking on the door for a minute now. Do you think she’s home?)
• Rhetorical question
When we know for sure that we will not get an answer to our question, because it is rhetorical, about the future and the situation can turn out completely differently, we use the construction “será que…
“Será que vai chover? (Will it rain?)
Verbs “dizer, fazer, trazer”
As in the Conditional form, in this type of future tense, verbs ending in “-zer” in the infinitive change it in a special way. Namely, see the table.
| Endings of verbs with “-zer” | |
| Eu | – rei |
| Tu | – rás |
| Ele, ela, você | – rá |
| Nós | – remos |
| Eles, elas, vocês | – rão |
This saves time again. Instead of saying, for example, the long word “fazerão“, we say the short word “farão“. Let’s see some examples:
Na próxima vez ela fará o bolo primeiro, e só depois dirá a todos que o fez. (Next time, she’ll make the cake first and then tell everyone that she did it.)
Do not forget that there are words with the same root, for example, “desfazer” (spoil), “contradizer-se” (contradict), and so on. They all follow the same rules.
Conclusion
Interestingly, sometimes we talk about the future using the present tense. Conversely, we use the future tense to talk about the present. In order not to get confused, you need to study Portuguese with professionals. For example, in our School!