French grammar · Intermediate
French Future Tense Conjugations: Every Stem and Ending
Every French verb takes the same six future endings: -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont. What varies is the stem, which for regular verbs is the infinitive itself, minus the final e of -re verbs. A short list of verbs has an irregular stem, and a slightly longer one has a predictable spelling change.
Nous arriverons avant la nuit.
We'll arrive before nightfall.
What it is
The futur simple is the only French tense that builds on the whole infinitive rather than on a shortened stem. Once you accept that the r you can see in every form belongs to the infinitive, the endings stop looking arbitrary: they are the present tense of avoir, glued onto the end.
choisir → je choisirai, tu choisiras, il choisira, nous choisirons, vous choisirez, ils choisiront.
How to spot it
Split the form at the r. Everything before it is the stem, everything after it is the ending, and the ending is the same for every verb in the language.
- Tu répondras plus tard. — You'll reply later.
- Nous descendrons à la prochaine. — We'll get off at the next stop.
- J'achèterai le pain. — I'll buy the bread. (stem change)
- Ils enverront la facture. — They'll send the invoice. (irregular stem)
No French future stem ever ends in anything but r. If your stem doesn't, you've built the form wrongly.
Future Tense Conjugations Quick Reference
How each group builds its future stem
| Group | Stem rule | Infinitive | je form |
|---|---|---|---|
| -er verbs | the whole infinitive | parler | je parlerai |
| -ir verbs | the whole infinitive | choisir | je choisirai |
| -re verbs | infinitive minus the final e | attendre | j'attendrai |
| -e_er verbs | è appears in the stem | acheter | j'achèterai |
| -eler / -eter verbs | the consonant doubles | appeler | j'appellerai |
| -oyer / -uyer verbs | y becomes i | employer | j'emploierai |
| -érer verbs | no change at all | espérer | j'espérerai |
| Irregular | unpredictable stem, still in r | faire | je ferai |
Common Future Tense Conjugations Examples in French
The paradigm in use, one group at a time:
-er Verbs
- Je téléphonerai demain matin.
- I'll phone tomorrow morning.
- Tu regretteras cette décision.
- You'll regret that decision.
- Nous chercherons une solution.
- We'll look for a solution.
- Elles arriveront vers midi.
- They'll arrive around midday.
The e of the infinitive stays in the spelling but is silent: parlerai is pronounced in three syllables, not four.
-ir Verbs
- Je réussirai cette fois.
- I'll succeed this time.
- On partira sans eux.
- We'll leave without them.
- Vous choisirez le dessert.
- You'll choose the dessert.
- Ils dormiront à l'hôtel.
- They'll sleep at the hotel.
Irregular -ir verbs like partir and dormir are perfectly regular in the future: the stem is still the infinitive.
-re Verbs
- J'attendrai devant la gare.
- I'll wait in front of the station.
- Tu comprendras vite.
- You'll catch on quickly.
- Nous écrirons la semaine prochaine.
- We'll write next week.
- Elle mettra son manteau.
- She'll put her coat on.
Écrire loses both the e and nothing else: écrire gives écrir-, so j'écrirai has one r, not two.
Stems That Change Spelling
- Je me lèverai tôt.
- I'll get up early.
- Tu jetteras ces papiers.
- You'll throw these papers away.
- Nous paierons en liquide.
- We'll pay cash.
- Il essuiera la table.
- He'll wipe the table.
These changes run through the whole conjugation, unlike the present tense, where nous and vous escape them.
Building the Forms Correctly
Five rules cover the entire paradigm, including the verbs that look like exceptions.
The Endings Never Vary
-ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont attach to every stem in the language, regular or not. No French verb has an irregular future ending, which makes this the most uniform tense in the system.
Vous verrez, ce sera simple.
You'll see, it'll be simple.
One set of endings, no exceptions.
-re Verbs Lose Only the Final E
Nothing else is removed. Attendre gives attendr-, prendre gives prendr-, and vivre gives vivr-. If you find yourself deleting the whole -re, you'll end up with a stem that no longer ends in r.
Nous vivrons à la campagne.
We'll live in the countryside.
vivre → vivr- → je vivrai.
Stem Changes Reach Every Person
In the present tense, nous achetons escapes the accent because the ending is stressed. In the future the ending is never stressed in the same way, so the change applies to all six forms: j'achèterai through ils achèteront.
Nous appellerons un taxi.
We'll call a taxi.
All six forms, or none.
Verbs With É in the Stem Don't Change
Espérer, préférer and répéter keep their é in the future, unlike acheter and mener, which take è. The traditional spelling is j'espérerai; the 1990 reform also allows j'espèrerai, and both are accepted.
Je préférerai toujours le train.
I'll always prefer the train.
acheter → è, espérer → é.
Irregular Stems Are Still Only Stems
About twenty verbs replace the infinitive with something shorter, but the replacement always ends in r and always takes the same endings. Learn the stem and you have six forms for free.
Tu sauras bientôt la réponse.
You'll know the answer soon.
New stem, old endings.
Common Mistakes with Future Tense Conjugations
Incorrect: J'écrireai une lettre. — I'll write a letter.
Correct: J'écrirai une lettre. — I'll write a letter.
Écrire is an -re verb, so it drops its final e before the ending. Keeping it produces an extra syllable that doesn't exist in the language.
Incorrect: J'acheterai du pain. — I'll buy some bread.
Correct: J'achèterai du pain. — I'll buy some bread.
Acheter takes a grave accent in the future because the e before the ending would otherwise be unpronounceable. Unlike in the present tense, the accent appears in every person.
Incorrect: Nous courons demain matin. — We'll run tomorrow morning.
Correct: Nous courrons demain matin. — We'll run tomorrow morning.
Courir's future stem is courr-, with two r. With one r you've written the present tense, and the sentence says we run rather than we'll run.
Incorrect: Tu envoieras le colis. — You'll send the parcel.
Correct: Tu enverras le colis. — You'll send the parcel.
Envoyer looks like employer, but it doesn't follow the y-to-i pattern in the future. Its stem is genuinely irregular: enverr-.
The Complete Future Paradigms
Four tables: the three regular groups, the verbs with spelling changes, and the two sets of irregular stems you'll meet most often.
The Three Regular Groups
Read across any row and you'll see the same ending three times. Only the stem changes.
| Pronoun | parler | choisir | attendre |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | parlerai | choisirai | attendrai |
| tu | parleras | choisiras | attendras |
| il / elle / on | parlera | choisira | attendra |
| nous | parlerons | choisirons | attendrons |
| vous | parlerez | choisirez | attendrez |
| ils / elles | parleront | choisiront | attendront |
The -er and -ir stems are complete infinitives; the -re stem has lost its e. That is the only structural difference between the three columns.
Verbs With a Spelling Change
The change is visible in the stem before the r, and it never disappears halfway through the conjugation.
| Pronoun | acheter | appeler | employer | espérer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| j' | achèterai | appellerai | emploierai | espérerai |
| tu | achèteras | appelleras | emploieras | espéreras |
| il / elle / on | achètera | appellera | emploiera | espérera |
| nous | achèterons | appellerons | emploierons | espérerons |
| vous | achèterez | appellerez | emploierez | espérerez |
| ils / elles | achèteront | appelleront | emploieront | espéreront |
Jeter doubles its t like appeler: je jetterai. Mener takes an accent like acheter: je mènerai.
The Four Verbs You Can't Avoid
Être, avoir, aller and faire are the most frequent verbs in French and all four have unpredictable stems.
| Pronoun | être | avoir | aller | faire |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | serai | aurai | irai | ferai |
| tu | seras | auras | iras | feras |
| il / elle / on | sera | aura | ira | fera |
| nous | serons | aurons | irons | ferons |
| vous | serez | aurez | irez | ferez |
| ils / elles | seront | auront | iront | feront |
Ce sera, il y aura and on ira are three of the most useful future forms in conversation.
Other High-Frequency Irregulars
Four more stems worth knowing by heart. Two of them double the r, which changes the pronunciation as well as the spelling.
| Pronoun | pouvoir | voir | venir | envoyer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | pourrai | verrai | viendrai | enverrai |
| tu | pourras | verras | viendras | enverras |
| il / elle / on | pourra | verra | viendra | enverra |
| nous | pourrons | verrons | viendrons | enverrons |
| vous | pourrez | verrez | viendrez | enverrez |
| ils / elles | pourront | verront | viendront | enverront |
Envoyer is not simply a y-to-i verb in the future: its stem is enverr-, which you have to learn separately.
The Spelling Traps
Three places where the future stem is not what a careful reader of the infinitive would predict.
-ayer verbs accept two spellings
Payer, essayer and balayer may keep the y or change it to i, and both spellings are correct. The i version is more common in print.
- Je paierai la note.
- I'll pay the bill.
- Je payerai la note.
- I'll pay the bill. (also correct)
- Nous essaierons demain.
- We'll try tomorrow.
-oyer and -uyer verbs have no such freedom: employer and essuyer must become emploier- and essuier-.
The doubled r you can hear
Six common verbs have rr in the future stem, and it is pronounced. Writing a single r produces a form that doesn't exist.
- Je pourrai t'aider.
- I'll be able to help you.
- Tu verras bien.
- You'll see.
- Nous courrons pour l'attraper.
- We'll run to catch it.
- Ils mourront de faim.
- They'll starve.
Compare nous courons, we run, with nous courrons, we'll run. The extra r is the only difference between a present and a future.
Impersonal verbs with a single form
Falloir, pleuvoir and neiger only exist in the third person singular, so their future has one form and no paradigm.
- Il faudra réserver.
- We'll have to book.
- Il pleuvra toute la semaine.
- It'll rain all week.
- Il y aura du monde.
- There'll be a lot of people.
Il y aura is the future of il y a, and it's irregular only because avoir is: the stem is aur- as usual.
Future Tense Conjugations FAQs
- What are the future tense endings in French?
- -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont, and they're identical for every verb. Attach them to the infinitive: je parlerai, tu choisiras, il attendra, once you've dropped the final e of an -re verb.
- How do I know what the future stem is?
- For regular verbs it's the infinitive, minus the final e for -re verbs. For irregular verbs it has to be learnt, but it always ends in r: fer-, ir-, aur-, ser-, pourr-, verr-, viendr-, saur-.
- Why is it j'achèterai but j'espérerai?
- Because the two verbs have different vowels in the stem. Acheter has a silent e that has to become è to be pronounceable; espérer already has an é, and it keeps it. The 1990 spelling reform also permits j'espèrerai.
- Is it je paierai or je payerai?
- Both are correct for verbs ending in -ayer. Je paierai is the more common spelling in writing, and je payerai is entirely acceptable. Verbs in -oyer and -uyer have no choice: j'emploierai, j'essuierai.
- Which future forms do people most often get wrong?
- The doubled r in pourrai, verrai, courrai, mourrai and enverrai, and the accented stems in achèterai and lèverai. Both errors produce something that sounds like a different tense, so they're worth checking in writing.