Goal
You’ll be able to form the future and conditional tenses, and know the genuinely useful near-future construction from Part 2.3 as a common alternative to the full future tense.
Learn
The future tense expresses what will happen; the conditional expresses what would happen. Both attach their endings to the infinitive (similar to the same pattern from Spanish and English):
parler future: parlerai, parleras, parlera, parlerons, parlerez, parleront parler conditional: parlerais, parlerais, parlerait, parlerions, parleriez, parleraient
-re verbs drop the final -e before adding these endings: vendre → vendrai, vendras… Several common irregular verbs use an irregular future stem: aller → ir- (j’irai), avoir → aur- (j’aurai), être → ser- (je serai).
Recall from Part 2.3 that aller + infinitive expresses the near future informally (je vais parler, “I’m going to speak”) — in genuinely everyday spoken French, this construction is often used more frequently than the full future tense for near-term plans, similar to how English speakers often prefer “going to” over “will” in casual conversation.
Decision Task
You want to express a near-term future plan in casual spoken French, and recall Part 2.3’s aller + infinitive construction. Before reading on: is this construction, or the full future tense, generally more common in everyday casual spoken French for near-term plans?
Show Answer
The aller + infinitive construction is generally more common in casual spoken French for near-term plans, similar to how English speakers often prefer “going to” over “will” in everyday conversation. The full future tense remains genuinely important, especially for more distant or formal statements, but isn’t always the default choice in casual near-term speech.
Common Mistake
Assuming the full future tense is always the primary or only way to talk about future events in French, without recognizing that aller + infinitive is genuinely common and often preferred in casual spoken French for near-term plans, mirroring English’s own similar preference for “going to” in everyday speech.
Practice Questions
1. Conjugate parler in the future for “je”.
Show Answer
parlerai
2. What is the irregular future stem of être?
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ser-, giving je serai, etc.
3. Conjugate parler in the conditional for “tu”.
Show Answer
parlerais
4. What do -re verbs do to their infinitive before adding future/conditional endings?
Show Answer
Drop the final -e.
5. What construction, covered in Part 2.3, is often preferred over the full future tense for near-term plans in casual spoken French?
Show Answer
Aller + infinitive.
Try It Yourself
Without looking back, fully conjugate avoir in the future tense across all six subject forms, using its irregular stem.
Show Answer
aurai, auras, aura, aurons, aurez, auront — using the irregular stem aur-.
Quick Check
1. What does the future tense express?
Show Answer
What will happen.
2. What does the conditional tense express?
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What would happen.
3. What do future/conditional endings attach to?
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The infinitive (with -re verbs dropping the final -e).
4. What is the irregular future stem of aller?
Show Answer
ir-
5. What common construction often substitutes for the future tense in casual speech?
Show Answer
Aller + infinitive.