The future tense is used to express an action that will take place in the future. It corresponds to “will + verb” in the English, “I will go” or “He will see.”

Future Tense of Regular Verbs

With regular verbs, the future tense is formed by adding the future tense endings to -are, -ere, and -ire verbs.

Table 13-1

Though we can use the present tense to express an action that will take place in the future — I am going to Italy next summer — the future tense is more precise.

The Future Tense of Irregular Verbs

In the future tense, the verbs dare, stare, and fare simply drop the final -e of their infinitives and form the stems dar-, star-, and far-, respectively; the stem of essere is sar-. These stems are then combined with the regular future tense endings.

There are two other irregular constructions you should be aware of: verbs with infinitives that end in -ciare and -giare and those that end in -care and -gare. Verbs with infinitives ending in -ciare and -giare drop the i before adding the future endings to the root: tu comincerai, noi viaggeremo. Verbs with infinitives ending in -care and -gare add an h to the root for the future to preserve the hard sound of the c or g of the infinitive: io cercherò, loro pagheranno.

The following table shows some irregular verbs in the future tense.

Table 13-2

Future Tense of Irregular Verbs Dare, Stare, Fare, and Essere

Table 13-3

Future Tense of Irregular Verbs Ending in - care, -gare, and -ciare

When the verb ends in -ciare or -giare, the -iare is dropped and the future ending is added. When the verb ends in -iare without the -c or -g (svegliare, for example), the i is not dropped.

L'estate prossima io andrò in Italia e vedrò i miei cugini.

Next summer I will go to Italy and I will see my cousins.

Table 13-4

Other Irregular Verbs in the Future Tense

Exercise 13-1

Can you recognize the future tense when it is spoken? Listen to each conjugation and underline the one that is in the future tense.

• loro dormivano, noi dormiamo, tu dormirai

• lui vuole, io vorrò, noi volevamo

• noi siamo, loro saranno, io ero

• lui pagherà, voi pagavate, tu paghi

• loro facevano, io faccio, voi farete

Exercise 13-2: From Present to Future

Rewrite each sentence, changing the verb from the present to the future tense.

• Tu impari l'italiano._________________________________________

• Domani sera io sto a casa._________________________________________

• Mio figlio è famoso._________________________________________

• Non veniamo a casa tua._________________________________________

• Balliamo tutta la sera._________________________________________