The future tense (le futur).

The future in English looks like the following:

     We will (shall) go home tomorrow.
     They will (shall) drink that stuff
     I will (shall) see her soon

Notice: to form the future, English uses will (shall) + infintive.

N. B. Don't confuse this future with the near future you learned in French 1,
where you use aller + infinitive

    We are going to go home tomorrow. >>>>>Nous allons aller chez nous demain
     They are going drink it! >>>>>>>>>>>Ils vont le boire
     I am going see her soon.>>>>>>>>>>>Nous allons la voir bientôt.

The formation of the future in French:

parler finir vendre venir (irr.verb)
       
je parlerai - I will speak je finirai - I will finish je vendrai - I will sell je viendrai - I will come
tu parleras tu finiras tu vendras tu viendras
il parlera il finira il vendra il viendra
nous parlerons nous finirons nous vendrons nous viendrons
vous parlerez vous finirez vous vendrez vous viendrez
elles parleront elles finiront elles vendront elles viendront

See how simple it is:

1. for regular verbs take the infinitve and add the endings of the verb avoir (-ai; -as; -a; -ons; -ez; -ont);
    -re verbs lose the "-e" before the future endings (see "vendre" above)
2. for irregular verbs you add the same endings to the future/conditional stem (which must be memorized)

For the future/conditional stems of irregular verbs go to: click here (irregular verbs)

 

Uses of the future in French.

I. the future is used in French, as it is in English, to indicate something that will happen.

    J'étudierai demain - I will study tomorrow. (boy, have I heard that line before!!!)
    Quand irez-vous?  - When will you go?

II. French also uses the future after
               quand (when),
               lorsque (when),
               aussitôt que (soon) and
               dès que (soon)
      if the action refers to the future, even though English may use the present tense here!!!!

       Donnez-moi d'argent dès que (aussitôt que) vous arriverez - Give me the money as soon as you arrive.
       Quand (lorsque) nous irons en France, nous la visiterons. When we arrive in France we will visit her.
Note the underlined: these are actions in the future.

------------------- (condtional - still in progress)

The Conditional Mood (le conditionnel).

Note: A little technicality--past, present and future tenses express space in time. Conditional does not
(neither does the subjunctive, later more about that one). Conditional uses "would" and expresses neither past, present nor future.
That's why we call it a "mood."
Examples: I go home, I went home, I will go home all answer to the "when in time."
                   I would go home, doesn't say anything about the "when" but says more about "if....
                   Example: ( I would go home if you'd cook a descent meal for a change!)

Thought you'd like to know!

The conditional in English looks like the following:

     We would go home tomorrow.
     They would drink that stuff
     I would see her soon

Notice: to form the conditional, English uses would (-'d)+ infintive.

The formation of the conditional in French:

parler finir vendre venir (irr.verb)
       
je parlerais - I would speak je finirais - I would finish je vendrais - I would sell je viendrais- I would come
tu parlerais tu finiras tu vendrais tu viendrais
il parlerait il finirait il vendrait il viendrait
nous parlerions nous finirions nous vendrions nous viendrions
vous parleriez vous finiriez vous vendriez vous viendrez
elles parleraient elles finiraient elles vendraient elles viendraient

See how simple it is:

1. for regular verbs take the infinitve and add the endings of the Imparfait (-ais; -ais; -ait; -ions; -iez; -aient);
    -re verbs lose the "-e" before the future endings (see "vendre" above)
2. for irregular verbs you add the same endings to the"future/conditional stem" (which must be memorized)

For the future/conditional stems of irregular verbs go to: click here (irregular verbs)