Spanish future tense: Irregular verbs – Episode 78

Spanish future tense: Irregular verbs

Podcast episode 78 – SEE ALL EPISODES

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

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In today’s Spanish audio lesson you’re going to find out which verbs have an irregular future.

See also: Maria’s step-by-step Spanish courses.

One of my subscribers recently posted this question:

Are there many Spanish verbs with an irregular future tense?

In Spanish, the future is one of the easiest tenses to learn.

One of the reasons for it is that there are only twelve main verbs with an irregular future. Only twelve.

Another reason is that Spanish verbs with an irregular future have the same endings as regular verbs.

It’s only the root or stem that changes.

And there are only three ways in which the root or stem can change in the future tense.

So, those twelve Spanish verbs with an irregular future can be divided into three groups.

That makes them very easy to learn — and remember.

Let me give you an overview of the three groups. Later, I’ll go through the six forms for one verb in each group.

In group 1, verbs lose the vowel before the final ‘r’ of their infinitive.

The five verbs in this group are: caber, haber, poder, querer, saber.

In group 2, verbs lose the vowel before the final ‘r’ of their infinitive, and replace it with a ‘d’.

The five verbs in this group are: poner, salir, tener, valer, venir.

And, in group 3, verbs lose two of the letters of their infinitive.

The two verbs in this group are: decir, hacer.

Let me give you this overview once more:

In group 1, verbs lose the vowel before the final ‘r’ of their infinitive.

The five verbs in this group are: caber, haber, poder, querer, saber.

In group 2, verbs lose the vowel before the final ‘r’ of their infinitive, and replace it with a ‘d’.

The five verbs in this group are: poner, salir, tener, valer, venir.

And, in group 3, verbs lose two of the letters of their infinitive.

The two verbs in this group are: decir, hacer.

Now, I’m going to give you an example for each group.

In group 1, you’re going to hear the six future tense forms of the verb: querer, to want.

Remember that, in this group, verbs lose the vowel before the final ‘r’ of their infinitive.

In the case of ‘querer’, we drop the second ‘e’. What remains is: q-u-e-r-r

To build the six forms, we add the future tense endings to ‘q-u-e-r-r’.

And the six forms are:

querré – I will want

querrás – you (singular) will want

querrá – he/she/it will want

querremos – we will want

querréis – you (plural) will want

querrán – they will want

I’ll say them once more. Say them after me:

querré
querrás
querrá
querremos
querréis
querrán

The other four verbs in this group ‘caber, haber, poder, saber’, build their future tense forms in the same way as ‘querer’.

Let’s move on to group 2.

In group 2, you’re going to hear the six future tense forms of the verb: poner, to put.

Remember that, in this group, verbs lose the vowel before the final ‘r’ of their infinitive, and replace it with a ‘d’.

In the case of ‘poner’, we drop the letter ‘e’ and replace it with a ‘d’. What we have is: ‘p-o-n-d-r’.

To build the six forms, we add the future tense endings to ‘p-o-n-d-r’.

And the six forms are:

pondré – I will put
pondrás – you (singular) will put
pondrá – he/she/it will put
pondremos – we will put
pondréis – you (plural) will put
pondrán – they will put

I’ll say them once more. Say them after me:

pondré
pondrás
pondrá
pondremos
pondréis
pondrán

The other four verbs in this group ‘salir, tener, valer, venir’, build their future tense forms in the same way as ‘poner’.

And, finally, let’s move on to group 3.

In group 3, you’re going to hear the six future tense forms of the verb: decir, to say.

Remember that, in this group, verbs lose two of the letters of their infinitive.

In the case of ‘decir’, we drop the letters ‘e’ and ‘c’. What remains is: ‘d-i-r’.

To build the six forms, we add the future tense endings to ‘d-i-r’.

And the six forms are:

diré – I will say
dirás – you (singular) will say
dirá – he/she/it will say
diremos – we will say
diréis – you (plural) will say
dirán – they will say

I’ll say them once more. Say them after me:

diré
dirás
dirá
diremos
diréis
dirán

The other verb in this group is: hacer.

If you want to see all the forms of the twelve irregular Spanish verbs I’ve mentioned in this lesson, head over to my verb course.

There, you can also find out which are the compound verbs with an irregular future.

And there are drills for you to practise the irregular future forms.

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Maria’s step-by-step Spanish courses

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