Talking about future education and employment in French

• Use the near future tense to talk about what you are going to do.

• The conditional tense expresses what would, could or should happen.

• Higher Tier - Use the simple future tense to talk about things that will happen.

• This guide contains a video as well as listening and reading practice.

Watch the video where Adnane chats to a couple of friends, who discuss their future plans.

Useful phrases for talking about starting sixth form or college include:

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

How to form the near future tense

It is formed by using the correct part of the present tense of aller (to go), followed by the infinitive.

Look at the table to check you know how to conjugate the verb aller.

For example:

Je vais faire mes devoirs. - I’m going to do my homework.

Il va trouver un emploi. - He’s going to find employment.

Je vais étudier le théâtre l’année prochaine. - I’m going to study drama next year.

Nous allons passer nos examens en mai. - We are going to take our exams in May.

Tu vas aller en France ? - Are you going to go to France?

Find out more about how to use and form the near future tense in the Future phrases in French guide.

Listen to the two callers on a French radio phone-in about plans for the future and answer the questions.

Useful nouns for talking about the world of work include:

For example:

Avoir un bon salaire est très important pour moi. - Having a good salary is very important for me.

Je voudrais un rôle dans l’industrie. - I would like a role in industry.

Useful phrases for talking about possible future careers include:

Remember

The verb travailler means ‘to work’, not ‘to travel’.

The French for 'to travel' is voyager.

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

Use the conditional tense to express what you would like.

The most common form of the conditional uses the verb vouloir (to want to):

• Je voudrais - I would like

• Tu voudrais -you sing. informal would like

• Il/elle/on voudrait - he/she/one, we would like

**Using vouloir with an infinitive

The conditional with vouloir is often used with an infinitive verb to say what someone would like to do. For example:

Je voudrais faire une formation à l’avenir. - I would like to do an apprenticeship in the future.

Tu voudrais aller à l’université ? - Would you like to go to university?

Using the conditional tense with an 'if' clause

The conditional tense if often used with an ‘if’ clause. For example:

Si possible, on voudrait trouver un bon métier. - If possible, we would like to find good jobs.

An ‘if’ clauses with the imperfect tense can be combined with a conditional clause to describe what would happen if things were different.

For example:

Si j’étais riche, je voudrais aider les autres. - If I were rich, I would like to help others.

Have a look at the Conditional in French guide for more on how to form and use the conditional.

You are researching universities in France and come across an article in which two students in terminale , the final year of school, describe their intentions.

Read what Marco and Lola say and answer the questions below.

Marco

Choisir une carrière, ce n’est pas facile. Je n’aimerais pas demander à ma famille de payer beaucoup d’argent pour l’université. C’était différent pour mes parents car il y avait des bourses pour y aller donc c’était gratuit pour eux.

Ce qui m’intéresse, c’est les médias. Je voudrais être apprenti chez mon journal local d’abord parce que je gagnerais de l’argent en même temps que d’avoir une formation. J’adorerais faire des entretiens et écrire des articles.

Lola

Pour moi, aller à l’université est un but important. Je voudrais devenir professeur et pour réussir dans ce métier, il faut étudier. Mes parents ont quitté le collège à la fin de la seconde pour travailler mais ils m’encouragent à suivre mon rêve.

J’espère trouver un emploi d’été pour pouvoir payer mon logement puisque je vais étudier à Lille, loin de chez moi. Je travaillerais comme serveuse ou vendeuse, par exemple.

Click or tap on the image below for a list of useful vocabulary to use when describing future education and work.

Useful nouns related to the world of work include:

Useful phrases to use when talking about future opportunities include:

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

The simple future describes what will happen in terms of predictions and future plans.

To form the simple future of regularer verbs, take the infinitive and add the following endings:

For example:

Nous gagnerons plus d’argent à l’avenir. - We will earn more money in the future.

Elle travaillera avant les examens. - She will work before the exams.

Irregular verbs

Some very common verbs are irregular in the simple future. This means that they are not formed using the infinitive, but the endings added are the same as for regular verbs.

High frequency irregular verbs include:

• être - to be

• avoir - to have

• aller - to go

The simple future is only used at Higher Tier. Find out more about how to form and use this tense in the Simple future in French guide.

Forming the conditional of regular er verbs

The conditional is formed by adding the imperfect tense ending to the infinitive for regular er verbs.

Forming the conditional of irregular verbs

The following four common irregular verbs all have irregularstems in the conditional, but the same endings:

• avoir - to have

• être -to be

• aller - to go

• faire - to do/make

Only the singular forms (je, tu, il / elle / on) are needed at Higher Tier.

The conditional is often used with ‘if’ clauses and the imperfect to say what you would do if the circumstances were different.

For example:

S’il avait plus d’argent, il irait en Asie. - If he had more money, he would go to Asia.

Si c’était plus facile, je ferais plus de travail. - If it was easier, I would do more work.

Find out more about forming the conditional with regular and irregular verbs (Higher Tier) in the Conditional in French guide.

Click or tap on the image below for a list of Higher Tier useful vocabulary to use when describing future education and work.

Now you have revised the important vocabulary and key grammar points for talking about future opportunities why not have a look at the Describing tourist attractions guide?