Le futur proche

1. Overview of le futur proche

As you are nearing the end of this course, you have thus far learned how to conjugate verbs in the present of the indicative, how to give commands using the imperative, and most recently, how to talk about something that just happened using le passé récent (the recent past). We will now introduce le futur proche (the near future).

1a. Purpose of le futur proche

There are two future tenses in French: le futur simple (the simple future) and le futur proche. Le futur proche, the near future, is usually translated into English as “going + infinitive,” such as “going to eat,” “going to drink,” “going to talk,” etc.

Le futur proche is used to refer to most future events in informal conversations, not in writing. Similarly to the near future in English, it can be used for events happening in a few days, weeks, months, or even the following year.

1b. Formation of le futur proche

Forming le futur proche is quite simple, as it only requires the use of the verb aller in the indicative present, followed by an infinitive verb:

• subject + aller (present indicative) + infinitive verb + rest of sentence

Aller (to go):

Next, to convey what activity you are going to do, you must include an infinitive of the relevant verb. Let’s take a look at a few examples with infinitive verbs.

2. Negation of le futur proche

To say that you are not going to do something or that something is not going to happen, you must use the negation pair ne ... pas by placing it right around the conjugated form of aller:

• subject + ne + aller (indicative present) + pas + infinitive verb + rest of the sentence

You can use other negation pairs, such as ne … plus (no longer/not anymore) and ne … jamais (never), as relevant.

hint

Ne must be elided to n’ in front of a vowel sound. With the verb aller, this occurs when you say nous n’allons pas (we’re not going to) and vous n’allez pas (you’re not going to).

3. Time Expressions and Conversations with le futur proche

Le futur proche is often used to talk about upcoming plans with certain expressions of time. You have learned a number of time expressions in this course, including:

• Dates, the days of the week, and the months of the year in the lesson Months, Days, and Dates
• Time expressions in the lesson Telling Time and Time Expressions
• Prepositions of time, such as à (at), dans (in), avant (before), après (after), pendant (during,) and en (in), in the lesson Prepositions of Place and Time

Now that you’ve learned how to form and use le futur proche and how it works with negation and time expressions, let’s explore its usage in a conversation. Olivier and Khadija are planning a trip to Algiers, the capital of Algeria, where Khadija’s extended family lives. They are discussing their upcoming trip and finalizing their plans.

Watch this sample dialogue between Alex and Cécile and practice using the near future tense:

watch

try it

Give le futur proche of the verb indicated in parentheses. Be careful about the negation pair statement if you are asked to use it. Click on the plus sign to see the answer.

1. Je ne sors pas ce soir. Je _____ à la maison. (rester)

Je vais rester à la maison.

2. Nous avons un examen demain. Nous _____ ce soir. (réviser)

Nous allons réviser ce soir.

3. Antoine et Boubacar _____ en Suisse cet été. (voyager)

Antoine et Boubacar vont voyager en Suisse cet été.

4. Je _____ cet automne. (ne pas travailler)

Je ne vais pas travailler cet automne.

5. Il y a du soleil. Il _____ chaud aujourd’hui. (faire)

Il va faire chaud aujourd’hui.

6. Nous _____ au tennis ce week-end. (jouer)

Nous allons jouer au tennis ce week-end.

7. Vous _____ un pique-nique avec vos amis. (préparer)

Vous allez préparer un pique-nique avec vos amis.

8. C'est la Saint Valentin aujourd’hui ! Je _____ d'acheter une carte pour Emma. (ne pas oublier)

Je ne vais pas oublier d’acheter une carte pour Emma.

Keep practicing! Now try building some sentences yourself using le futur proche.