Now that we've got the conjugation basics down, let's move on to the verb tenses. First up is the future tense. But you don't necessarily need to use the grammatical future tense (simple future) to express actions that will take place in the future. Let's review your options.

Present Tense

As you've learned in Chapter 7, you can actually use the present tense to talk about actions that will happen in the immediate future. You might not have noticed, but we do the same in English:

Regresamos a la escuela el lunes.

We go back to school on Monday.

Plans for the Future

The expression “going to” isn't exactly future tense, but it does deal with actions one plans to do in the future. In Spanish, an equivalent expression is ir a + infinitive:

Voy a decirle lo que pienso.

I will tell her what I think. (I am going to tell her what I think.)