The future and the conditional
Ir a, hablaré and hablaría.
Ir a: going to
The commonest way to talk about the future is ir a with an infinitive, like English "going to".
- I'm going to call my mother.
- What are you going to do tomorrow?
- It's going to rain.
Vamos a also means "let's": ¡Vamos a comer! "Let's eat!"
The future
The future adds endings to the whole infinitive, the same endings for every verb.
| hablar | |
|---|---|
| yo | hablaré |
| tú | hablarás |
| él, ella, usted | hablará |
| nosotros | hablaremos |
| vosotros | hablaréis |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | hablarán |
A few common verbs shorten the infinitive: tener, tendré; salir, saldré; venir, vendré; poner, pondré; poder, podré; saber, sabré; haber, habré (and hay, habrá); querer, querré; hacer, haré; decir, diré.
It's used for predictions and promises, and more in writing than in speech. It also guesses about the present:
- It'll rain tomorrow.
- I'll call you tonight.
- Where can Juan be?a guess about now
- He must be about thirty.
The conditional: would
The conditional adds -ía endings to the same stems: hablaría, hablarías, hablaría, hablaríamos, hablaríais, hablarían; tendría, haría, diría.
- I'd like a coffee.
- Could you help me?
- I wouldn't do it.
- He said he would come.
It makes requests polite: ¿Podría...? "Could you...?", Me gustaría... "I'd like...".
Cards from this guide
10 cardsEach card asks about one thing this guide teaches, and its back gives the answer with why and an example. They're reviewed with the rest of the Past, future and commands cards.
How do you say 'I'm going to call my mother'?
Voy a llamar a mi madre.
What does ¡Vamos a comer! mean?
'Let's eat!'
What's the 'I' form of hablar in the future?
hablaré
What's the 'I' form of tener in the future?
tendré
What's the 'I' form of hacer in the future?
haré
What does ¿Dónde estará Juan? ask?
'Where can Juan be?', a guess about now.
How do you say 'I'd like a coffee' politely?
Me gustaría un café.
How do you ask 'Could you help me?' politely?
¿Podría ayudarme?
What's the 'I' form of decir in the conditional?
diría
How do you say 'he said he would come'?
Dijo que vendría.