Future tenses in Italian
In the following pages you can find information on the future tenses of the indicative mood:
Here is a chart to sum up the two future tenses in Italian:
| When to use it | How to form it | |
|---|---|---|
| Futuro semplice | action that will take place in the future |
|
| Futuro anteriore | action that will take place in the future, usually before another action introduced by the futuro semplice | futuro semplice auxiliary verb + past participle main verb |
Lesson Outline
HideFuture tense in Italian
This tense in Italian is called futuro semplice.
The Italian futuro semplice is used to refer to an action that will take place in the future.
This tense can be found with marker words such as domani (tomorrow), fra 2/10 giorni (in 2/10 days), la prossima settimana (next week), stasera (this evening).
Regular verbs form the futuro semplice by adding certain endings to the root of the verb:
- -are conjugation: -erò, -erai, -erà, -eremo, -erete, -eranno
- -ere conjugation: -erò, -erai, -erà, -eremo, -erete, -eranno
- -ire conjugation: -irò, -irai, -irà, -iremo, -irete, -iranno
Examples:
- Domani Francesco arriverà a Positano - Tomorrow Francesco will arrive in Positano
- Il prossimo anno partiremo per la Grecia - Next year we will leave to go to Greece
Some irregular verbs fall within two categories:
- Verbs that lose th ending except for the letter r
E.g. Sapere (to know) - saprò - Verbs that lose not only the ending but also part of the root and add rr instead
E.g. Venire (to come) - verrò
Other irregular verbs have to be studied by heart because they do not follow any grammatical rule:
- Dare (to give) - io darò, tu darai, egli darà...
- Fare (to do/make) - io farò, tu farai, egli farà...
- Stare (to stay) - io starò, tu starai, egli starà
Auxiliary verbs and the -are, -ere, -ire conjugations
Here is a chart to help you with the conjugation of the futuro semplice:
| Essere (to be) | Avere (to have) | Arrivare (to arrive) | Conoscere (to know) | Partire (to leave) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Io | sarò | avrò | arriverò | conoscerò | partirò |
| Tu | sarai | avrai | arriverai | conoscerai | partirai |
| Egli/Ella | sarà | avrà | arriverà | conoscerà | partirà |
| Noi | saremo | avremo | arriveremo | conosceremo | partiremo |
| Voi | sarete | avrete | arriverete | conoscerete | partirete |
| Essi/Esse | saranno | avranno | arriveranno | conosceranno | partiranno |
Future perfect in Italian
The Italian future perfect is a compound tense and it is called futuro anteriore.
The futuro anteriore refers to an action that will take place in the future, usually before another action introduced by the futuro semplice.
Examples:
- Quando Riccardo arriverà a destinazione, sarà già calata la notte - When Riccardo will arrive at his destination, the night will have already fallen
- Fra tre giorni avrò finito il mio corso di portoghese - I will have finished my Portuguese course in three days
This tense can be found with marker words such as quando (when), dopo che (after), non appena (as soon as).
The futuro anteriore is formed by:
Futuro semplice of the auxiliary verb + past participle of the main verb
Some Italian verbs form the past participle in a regular way:
- Giocare (to play) - giocato
- Credere (to believe) - creduto
- Dormire (to sleep) - dormito
Other Italian verbs form the past participle in an irregular way and they have to be studied by heart:
- Dire (to say) - detto
- Perdere (to lose) - perso
- Uccidere (to kill) - ucciso
Auxiliary verbs and the -are, -ere, -ire conjugations
| Essere (to be) | Avere (to have) | Giocare (to play) | Credere (to believe) | Dormire (to sleep) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Io | sarò stato/a | avrò avuto | avrò giocato | avrò creduto | avrò dormito |
| Tu | sarai stato/a | avrai avuto | avrai giocato | avrai creduto | avrai dormito |
| Egli/Ella | sarà stato/a | avrà avuto | avrà giocato | avrà creduto | avrà dormito |
| Noi | saremo stati/e | avremo avuto | avremo giocato | avremo creduto | avremo dormito |
| Voi | sarete stati/e | avrete avuto | avrete giocato | avrete creduto | avrete dormito |
| Essi/Esse | saranno stati/e | avranno avuto | avranno giocato | avranno creduto | avranno dormito |
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