Describing future education and employment in Spanish

• Use the immediate future tense to say what you are going to do or what is going to happen.

• The simple future tense is used to describe what will happen and is less common than the immediate future.

• The conditional tense describes what someone would do or what would happen in the future.

• This guide contains listening and reading practice.

Watch the video of Denia discussing future plans with her friends.

Useful verbs for talking about apprenticeships and university studies include:

Other useful vocabulary includes:

Did you know?

All 12-16 year olds in Spain complete the Educación Secundaria Obligatoria (or ESO), which translates as Compulsory Secondary Education. ESO is also the name of the qualification received when a student completes it - a bit like GCSEs in England.

There are two main tenses for talking about the future:

1. The immediate future is used to say what you are going to do or what is going to happen.

2. The simple future tense is used to say what will happen and is less common than the immediate future.

The immediate future tense is the most common way of talking about future plans.

It is formed with the present tense of ir (to go), followed by a and the infinitive.

For example:

Voy a hacer mis deberes. - I’m going to do my homework.

Va a hacer un aprendizaje el año próximo. - He’s going to do an apprenticeship next year.

Voy a aprender español. - I’m going to learn Spanish.

Vamos a estudiar esta noche. - We are going to study this evening

¿Qué vas a hacer cuando termines tus estudios? - What are you going to do when you finish studying?

The simple future tense is used to say what will happen.

For example:

Iré a la universidad en el futuro. - I will go to university in the future.

Repasaremos mucho para preparar para nuestros exámenes. - We will revise a lot for our exams.

To form the simple future tense, add the correct ending to the infinitive of the verb. The endings are the same for ar, er and ir verbs:

For example:

Mañana estudiaré las matemáticas. - Tomorrow, I will study maths.

Mi madre me apoyará. - My mother will support me.

¿Irás a la universidad? - Will you go to university?

Some verbs have an irregular form. Common irregular verbs include:

For example:

El año próximo tendré más deberes. - Next year I will have more homework.

En el futuro hará un trabajo interesante. - In the future he/she will do an interesting job.

Find out more about using the future tenses in the Future tenses in Spanish guide.

Click or tap on the purple Start button to listen to five young people discussing the advantages and disadvantages of university. For each one pick the summary which best sums up their ideas, choosing from the options given.

Useful nouns for different professions include:

Other useful vocabulary includes:

All Foundation Tier vocabulary listed in this guide can be found on the vocabulary sheet below.

The conditional tense is used to describe what someone would do or what would happen in the future.

It can also be used to express ambitions and intentions, eg I would like to play football, we would like to find a job.

For example:

Mi colegio ideal tendría una piscina. - My ideal school would have a swimming pool.

¿Que harías? - What would you do?

Con más tiempo yo terminaría mis deberes. - With more time, I would finish my homework.

The most common verb in the conditional tense is me gustaría (I would like). This can be used to say what you would like to do in the future.

For example:

Me gustaría aprender el portugués. - I would like to learn Portuguese.

The conditional tense is formed by adding the conditional endings to the infinitive. The endings are the same for ar, er and ir verbs.

Some verbs have an irregular form. The irregular verbs are the same in the conditional tense as they are in the future tense.

Common irregular conditional stems include:

Other conditionals

Hay (there is/are) becomes habría (there would be).

For example:

En mi insituto ideal habría una piscina. - In my ideal school, there would be a swimming pool.

The conditional of the verb deber is used to mean 'should'.

For example:

Debería repasar más. - I should revise more.

Find out more about prepositions in the Prepositions of place and time in Spanish guide.

Read what these 6 young Spanish students say about what they want to do when they leave school and answer the questions below.

Ana

Yo quiero ir a la universidad. No sé exactamente lo que voy a estudiar para la carrera, pero si saco buenas notas en los exámenes, quizás estudiaré Derecho.

Beatriz

Creo que necesito un año libre. Pienso tomar un año sabático para trabajar como voluntaria en América del Sur.

Carla

A mí no me interesan tanto los estudios académicos. Prefiero hacer cosas con las manos. En septiembre voy a empezar un aprendizaje en una empresa de ingeniería.

David

Me gusta cocinar así que, cuando deje el instituto, voy a ir a una academia para estudiar hostelería y turismo.

Elena

A mí me gusta ayudar a la gente así que yo quiero ser médica. Claro, hay varios años de estudios universitarios y luego, después de lograr el título, unos años más de formación profesional.

Fátima

No me importa mucho lo que hago. Solo quiero ganar lo suficiente para sobrevivir. Busco trabajo en una fábrica. Así tendré tiempo para salir con mis amigos por la noche y pasarlo bien.

Answer these questions by writing the name of the person.

Click or tap on the image below for a list of useful vocabulary to use when talking about yourself and others.

Useful verbs for talking about future education and employment include:

Useful nouns include:

All vocabulary listed in this guide can be found on the vocabulary sheet below.

The plural forms of the simple future tense are needed at Higher Tier only.

The simple future tense is formed by adding the conditional endings to the infinitive. The endings are the same for ar, er and ir verbs.

Find out about using the simple future in the Future tenses in Spanish guide.

The plural forms of the conditional tense are only needed at Higher Tier.

The conditional tense is formed by adding the conditional endings to the infinitive. The endings are the same for ar, er and -ir verbs.

Click or tap on the image below for a list of useful Higher Tier vocabulary to use when talking about yourself and others.

Now you have revised the important vocabulary and key grammar points for life at school why not have a look at the Describing the local area guide?