Summary Chapter 16 (§105 & 109)

Future Tense

a. conjugation: the future is simple tense formed by combining a stem and an ending.

Stem: usually the stem is identical to the infinitive of the verb (dropping the e for '-re' verbs):

parler-, finir-, vendr-

NB: A number of common verbs have irregular stems. We will learn those after the Midterm.

The endings closely resemble the present tense of avoir: -ai, -as, -a; -ons, -ez, -ont

je parlerai, tu parleras, il/elle parlera; nous parlerons, vous parlerez, ils/elles parleront

je finirai, tu finiras, il/elle finira; nous finirons, vous finirez, ils/elles finiront

je vendrai, tu vendras, il/elle vendra; nous vendrons, vous vendrez, ils/elles vendront

b. meaning/use: the meaning of the future in French is the same as the "will + verb" structure in English. Sometimes English implies a future idea when using a present tense form, e.g. after "When…"

When I'm grown up, I'll be the President of the United States!

French uses the future tense in equivalent situations (after quand or lorsque ['when'] and aussitôt que ['as soon as']):

Quand je serai grand, je serai Président de la République!