French Future Tense

Flashcards for grammar review: Future Tense, Irregular Verbs, Negation, and Reflexive Verbs.

Regular Verbs (er, ir, re) Rule

Take the infinitive form of the verb and add the future endings.

Future endings for all verbs

Je -ai, Tu -as, Il/Elle/On -a, Nous -ons, Vous -ez, Ils/Elles -ont

-ER verbs (e.g. parler = to speak)

Je parlerai (I will speak)

-IR verbs (e.g. finir = to finish)

Tu finiras (You will finish)

-RE verbs (e.g. vendre = to sell)

Drop the final -e before adding endings: Il vendra (He will sell)

Irregular Verbs

These verbs have irregular future stems, but use the same endings as regular verbs.

être

Future Stem: ser-, Example: Je serai (I will be)

avoir

Future Stem: aur-, Example: Tu auras (You will have)

aller

Future Stem: ir-, Example: Il ira (He will go)

faire

Future Stem: fer-, Example: Nous ferons (We will do/make)

venir

Future Stem: viendr-, Example: Vous viendrez (You will come)

pouvoir

Future Stem: pourr-, Example: Ils pourront (They will be able to)

voir

Future Stem: verr-, Example: Je verrai (I will see)

devoir

Future Stem: devr-, Example: Tu devras (You will have to)

savoir

Future Stem: saur-, Example: Il saura (He will know)

La Négation (Adding “ne … pas”)

To make a future sentence negative, wrap 'ne … pas' around the conjugated verb. Format: Subject + ne + future verb + pas

Example of negation with 'parler'

Je ne parlerai pas. (I will not speak)

Example of negation with 'aller'

Nous n’irons pas. (We will not go)

Les Verbes Réfléchis (Reflexive Verbs) - Steps

1. Use reflexive pronoun before the verb (me, te, se, nous, vous, se); 2. Conjugate verb in futur simple; 3. In negative sentences, wrap 'ne … pas' around the reflexive pronoun + verb

Affirmative Reflexive Verb Example

Je me laverai. (I will wash myself)

Negative Reflexive Verb Example

Je ne me lèverai pas. (I will not get up)