Use the near future and the simple future tenses to talk about what will happen in the future. Find out how to form and use them and check your understanding with activities and a quiz.
An explanation of the tense that is used when talking about things that will happen in the future
The futur proche (near future tense) describes what is going to happen with certainty.
Forming the near future tense
To form the futur proche, use the present tenseA verb that describes an action that is happening now or that happens regularly, eg I eat breakfast every day. of aller (to go) plus an infinitiveThe form of the verb that has not been conjugated and is usually translated with 'to' in English, for example 'to play'. .
present tense of aller
infinitive (example)
English
je
vais
regarder
I’m going to watch
tu
vas
manger
you’re going to eat
il/elle/on
va
faire
he/she/one is going to do
nous
allons
avoir
we’re going to have
vous
allez
vivre
you’re going to live
ils/elles
vont
aller
they’re going to go
je
present tense of aller
vais
infinitive (example)
regarder
English
I’m going to watch
tu
present tense of aller
vas
infinitive (example)
manger
English
you’re going to eat
il/elle/on
present tense of aller
va
infinitive (example)
faire
English
he/she/one is going to do
nous
present tense of aller
allons
infinitive (example)
avoir
English
we’re going to have
vous
present tense of aller
allez
infinitive (example)
vivre
English
you’re going to live
ils/elles
present tense of aller
vont
infinitive (example)
aller
English
they’re going to go
Forming the negative
To make it negative and say something is not going to happen, put ne … pas or n’… pas around the conjugated verb aller. To say something is never going to happen, use ne/n’ … jamais. For example,
Nous n’allons pas perdre nos portables. – We aren’t going to lose our mobile phones.
Ils ne vont jamais oublier de fermer la porte à clé. – They are never going to forget to lock the door.
Using the table, work out the near future tense for the following:
