Le Futur Simple (The Simple Future Tense)

The futur simple in French is equivalent to the simple future tense in English (will + verb). It's used to talk about future actions or events, express intentions, and make predictions about what might happen in the future.

When to Use Le Futur Simple

1. To talk about future intentions: "Demain je rangerai les dossiers." (Tomorrow I will organize the files.)
2. To make suppositions or predictions about the future: "Tu ne finiras jamais en une journée." (You will never finish in one day.)
3. In conditional sentences (if sentences): "Si on range à deux, on finira plus vite." (If we organize together, we will finish faster.)

How to Form Le Futur Simple

To conjugate regular verbs in the futur simple, take the infinitive of the verb and add the following endings (for -re verbs, remove the final e before adding the ending):

Example with "parler" (to speak): je parlerai, tu parleras, il/elle parlera, nous parlerons, vous parlerez, ils/elles parleront

Irregular Verbs Cheatsheet

Many common verbs are irregular in the futur simple. Here's a cheatsheet of the most frequently used irregular verbs:

Special Cases

1. Verbs ending in -yer change y to i before adding endings: essayer → j'essaierai (I will try)
2. Some verbs ending in -eler or -eter double the l or t: jeter → je jetterai (I will throw)
3. Verbs ending in -re drop the e before adding endings: prendre → je prendrai (I will take)

Quiz

Complete the following sentences using the futur simple: