Futuro simple und die Umschreibung mit ir a

The simple future is the easiest tense in Spanish to form: the endings go on the whole infinitive, and they are the same for -ar, -er and -ir verbs. Where English adds "will", Spanish adds an ending: hablaré - I will speak.

Every ending except -emos carries a written accent. Stem changes from the present disappear: querré, podré, dormiré.

Twelve irregular stems

A dozen common verbs shorten or alter the infinitive, but take exactly the same endings:

Tener, poner, salir, venir and valer insert a d; poder, saber, haber, querer and caber lose a vowel; hacer and decir are the two to learn as words. Compounds follow: mantener → mantendré, proponer → propondré. Habrá is "there will be": Habrá fuegos artificiales en las Fallas.

Simple future or ir a + infinitive?

In conversation ir a wins, just as English "going to" often beats "will". Keep the simple future for things further off, for promises and for predictions.

For arrangements Spanish, like English, also uses the present: El sábado cenamos en casa de Lola.

The future of guessing

Spanish uses the simple future for guesses about the present, where English says "must be" or "I suppose": ¿Dónde está Pablo? - Estará en el gimnasio. - He'll be at the gym, I expect. Tendrá unos cuarenta años. - He must be about forty.

Where English speakers slip

• Building on the stem instead of the infinitive: *hablé for "I will speak" is the preterite. Keep the -r: hablaré.
• Translating "will" in offers. "I'll get it!" is ¡Ya voy! or ¡Voy yo!, and "Will you open the window?" is ¿Puedes abrir la ventana?, not a future.
• Using the future after cuando: "when I arrive" is cuando llegue (subjunctive), never *cuando llegaré.