French grammar · Intermediate
Pouvoir in the Future Tense: Pourrai, Pourras, Pourra
Pouvoir in the future tense runs on the irregular stem pourr-, giving je pourrai, tu pourras, il pourra. It means will be able to or will be allowed to, and the double r is the only thing separating it from the conditional pourrais, could. The endings are the ordinary future endings, so the stem is the single thing to memorise.
Tu pourras m'aider demain ?
Will you be able to help me tomorrow?
What it is
Pouvoir builds its future on the stem pourr-, not on the infinitive. Every French future stem has to end in r, and pouvoir's ends in a doubled one, which is what you actually hear when a native speaker says il pourra. Once the stem is in place, the endings are the same six endings every other verb in the language takes.
Je pourrai venir samedi, mais je ne pourrai pas rester longtemps. — I'll be able to come on Saturday, but I won't be able to stay long.
How to spot it
Look for two r's followed by a future ending with no -s and no -t on the je and il forms. That combination is future; add an -s or a -t and you have slipped into the conditional.
- Je pourrai vous répondre demain. — I'll be able to answer you tomorrow.
- Elle pourra choisir elle-même. — She'll be able to choose for herself.
- Nous pourrons y aller ensemble. — We'll be able to go there together.
- Ils ne pourront pas venir. — They won't be able to come.
The stem never varies across the six persons, so once you can say je pourrai you already hold the whole tense.
Pouvoir in the Future Tense Quick Reference
Pouvoir in le futur simple — je pourrai and vous pourrez sound identical, and so do tu pourras and il pourra
| Subject | Form | Sounds like | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| je | pourrai | poo-RAY | I'll be able to |
| tu | pourras | poo-RA | you'll be able to |
| il / elle / on | pourra | poo-RA | he / she / one will be able to |
| nous | pourrons | poo-RON | we'll be able to |
| vous | pourrez | poo-RAY | you'll be able to |
| ils / elles | pourront | poo-RON | they'll be able to |
Common Pouvoir in the Future Tense Examples in French
Pourrai, pourras, and pourra in ordinary sentences:
Ability That Arrives Later
- Quand j'aurai la voiture, je pourrai t'emmener.
- When I have the car, I'll be able to give you a lift.
- Tu pourras conduire à dix-huit ans.
- You'll be able to drive at eighteen.
- Nous pourrons payer en plusieurs fois.
- We'll be able to pay in instalments.
- Elle pourra reprendre le travail en septembre.
- She'll be able to go back to work in September.
This is the plain reading: the ability does not exist yet, and the sentence places it in the future.
Permission and Arrangements
- Vous pourrez entrer à partir de neuf heures.
- You'll be allowed in from nine o'clock.
- Les étudiants pourront utiliser la salle.
- Students will be allowed to use the room.
- On pourra se garer devant.
- We'll be able to park out front.
- Tu pourras me le rendre plus tard.
- You can give it back to me later.
French does not split can from may. Pouvoir covers physical ability and official permission with the same word.
Softened Requests
- Tu pourras me rappeler ce soir ?
- Could you call me back this evening?
- Vous pourrez signer en bas de la page.
- You'll need to sign at the bottom of the page.
- Tu pourras fermer la fenêtre en partant ?
- Could you shut the window on your way out?
Putting the request in the future turns an order into an expectation. It is politer than an imperative without being formal.
Negatives and the Impersonal Il
- Je ne pourrai jamais oublier ça.
- I'll never be able to forget that.
- Il ne pourra pas y assister.
- He won't be able to attend.
- Il pourra y avoir des retards.
- There may be delays.
- Ça ne pourra pas durer.
- That won't be able to last.
Ne and pas wrap the conjugated pouvoir, and the infinitive stays outside the sandwich: je ne pourrai pas venir.
How Pouvoir Builds Its Future
An irregular stem, a completely regular set of endings, and one pronunciation detail that carries the whole distinction from the conditional.
The Stem Is Pourr-
Regular verbs use the infinitive as the future stem, but pouvoir replaces it outright. Pourr- has nothing in common with the present-tense stems peux and pouvons, so it has to be learned as its own item.
Je pourrai te le dire demain.
I'll be able to tell you tomorrow.
pouvoir → pourr- → je pourrai.
The Endings Are Completely Regular
Once the stem is pourr-, you add -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont, the same endings that go on parler and finir. Irregular future stems in French never bring irregular endings with them.
Vous pourrez choisir sur place.
You'll be able to choose when you get there.
Irregular stem, regular endings.
An Infinitive Follows with No Preposition
Pouvoir is a semi-auxiliary, so the verb it governs goes straight into the infinitive with nothing between them. This holds in the future exactly as it does in the present.
Nous pourrons commencer sans lui.
We'll be able to start without him.
pourra + bare infinitive.
Both R's Are Pronounced
In careful speech the doubled r in pourrai is audible and slightly longer than the single r of pouvoir. That length is the one acoustic clue that separates the future from the conditional, since the endings themselves are so close.
Il pourra, s'il le veut.
He'll be able to, if he wants to.
Long r plus -a means pourra, not pourrait.
After Quand, the Future Is Compulsory
English says as soon as she can walk, using the present after a time conjunction. French marks the time on both verbs, so pouvoir goes into the future as well.
Dès qu'elle pourra marcher, elle sortira.
As soon as she can walk, she'll go out.
quand / dès que + future in French.
Common Mistakes with Pouvoir in the Future Tense
Incorrect: Je pouvrai venir. — I'll be able to come.
Correct: Je pourrai venir. — I'll be able to come.
The stem gets built out of the present-tense pouvons instead of being memorised on its own. No future form of pouvoir contains a v at all.
Incorrect: Si je pourrai, je viendrai. — If I can, I'll come.
Correct: Si je peux, je viendrai. — If I can, I'll come.
After si meaning if, French uses the present tense. The future belongs in the other half of the sentence, and putting it in both halves is one of the most recognisable learner errors.
Incorrect: Quand je peux, je t'aiderai. — When I can, I'll help you.
Correct: Quand je pourrai, je t'aiderai. — When I can, I'll help you.
The mirror image of the si rule. After quand, French wants the future for a future event, because it marks time on every verb rather than letting the conjunction do it once.
Incorrect: Je pourrai de partir tôt. — I'll be able to leave early.
Correct: Je pourrai partir tôt. — I'll be able to leave early.
Pouvoir governs a bare infinitive. English to be able to has a to in it, and that to gets translated as de or à where nothing belongs.
Pouvoir Across the Future Forms
The futur simple is the core table, but pouvoir also appears in a compound future and a spoken near future, and the conditional sits close enough to be worth putting side by side.
Le futur simple
Stem plus ending, laid out so you can see that the stem is doing none of the work of distinguishing the persons.
| Pronoun | pouvoir (pourr-) | ending |
|---|---|---|
| je / j' | pourrai | -ai |
| tu | pourras | -as |
| il / elle / on | pourra | -a |
| nous | pourrons | -ons |
| vous | pourrez | -ez |
| ils / elles | pourront | -ont |
The three plural forms are the ones you can hear reliably. Among the singulars, only the spelling separates them.
Future beside conditional
Same stem, different endings. Reading the two columns together is the fastest way to stop mixing them up in writing.
| Pronoun | futur simple | conditionnel présent |
|---|---|---|
| je / j' | pourrai | pourrais |
| tu | pourras | pourrais |
| il / elle / on | pourra | pourrait |
| nous | pourrons | pourrions |
| vous | pourrez | pourriez |
| ils / elles | pourront | pourraient |
Nous and vous are the two rows where the difference is genuinely audible: pourrons against pourrions, pourrez against pourriez.
Compound and spoken futures
The futur antérieur puts avoir in the future in front of the participle pu; the futur proche uses aller plus the infinitive pouvoir and dominates casual speech.
| Pronoun | futur antérieur (aurai pu) | futur proche (vais pouvoir) |
|---|---|---|
| je / j' | aurai pu | vais pouvoir |
| tu | auras pu | vas pouvoir |
| il / elle / on | aura pu | va pouvoir |
| nous | aurons pu | allons pouvoir |
| vous | aurez pu | allez pouvoir |
| ils / elles | auront pu | vont pouvoir |
Aurai pu is rare and means will have been able to. Je vais pouvoir is extremely common and is what most speakers reach for in conversation.
Three Places Pourra Behaves Unexpectedly
Time conjunctions, the impersonal il, and the pull of the spoken near future all change what you should write.
After quand, dès que, and lorsque
English uses the present after when and as soon as. French keeps both verbs in the future, because both events are still ahead of the speaker.
- Quand tu pourras, appelle-moi.
- Call me when you can.
- Dès que je pourrai, je te rembourserai.
- As soon as I can, I'll pay you back.
- Lorsqu'il pourra marcher, il rentrera.
- When he can walk, he'll go home.
After si meaning if, the rule flips: si je peux, je viendrai. Never si je pourrai.
Il pourra y avoir and other impersonals
With the impersonal subject il, the future of pouvoir stops meaning ability and starts meaning possibility. Only the third person singular exists in this use.
- Il pourra y avoir du monde.
- There may well be a crowd.
- Il pourra arriver que le train soit annulé.
- It may happen that the train is cancelled.
- Il ne pourra pas en être question.
- It won't be possible to consider it.
Note the subjunctive after il pourra arriver que: the clause reports something merely possible, not something established.
Pourra versus va pouvoir in speech
For anything close at hand, spoken French prefers aller plus pouvoir. The futur simple sounds more written, more distant, or more formal.
- Je vais pouvoir partir plus tôt.
- I'm going to be able to leave earlier.
- On va pouvoir enfin se reposer.
- We're finally going to be able to rest.
- Tu vas pouvoir tout recommencer.
- You're going to be able to start over.
Je pourrai partir plus tôt is not wrong. It simply places the moment further away and belongs more naturally in writing.
Pouvoir in the Future Tense FAQs
- How do you conjugate pouvoir in the future tense?
- Take the stem pourr- and add the regular future endings: je pourrai, tu pourras, il pourra, nous pourrons, vous pourrez, ils pourront. Nothing about the stem changes from person to person, so the whole tense follows from knowing pourr-.
- What does pourra mean?
- Pourra is the il, elle, and on form of pouvoir in the future: he, she, or one will be able to. Il pourra venir means he'll be able to come, and with the impersonal il it can also mean there may be, as in il pourra y avoir des retards.
- Why is it pourrai and not pouvoirai?
- Because pouvoir is one of about twenty verbs with an irregular future stem. It shortens the infinitive to pourr- while keeping the r that every French future stem needs. Vouloir does the same thing, giving voudr- and je voudrai.
- What is the difference between pourra and pourrait?
- Pourra is the future and states that the ability will be there: il pourra le faire, he'll be able to do it. Pourrait is the conditional and makes it hypothetical or polite: il pourrait le faire, he could do it. In speech the two are nearly indistinguishable, so context does most of the work.
- How do you say I won't be able to in French?
- Je ne pourrai pas, with ne and pas wrapping the conjugated verb and the infinitive left outside: je ne pourrai pas venir, I won't be able to come. In casual speech the ne is usually dropped, giving je pourrai pas venir.