Verb tenses · Brazilian Portuguese
Portuguese Future (Futuro)
Brazilians talk about the future with ir + infinitive (vou falar); the one-word futuro do presente (falarei) is mostly for writing and formal speech.
Amanhã eu vou trabalhar de casa. Tomorrow I'm going to work from home.
- Used in speech and writing
- Level A1
- Different in Portugal
vou · vai · vamos · vão (tu vais) + the infinitive
When to use the future
Plans and what will happen: ir in the present + infinitive.
A gente vai viajar em julho.
We're going to travel in July.
Predictions, also with ir + infinitive.
Acho que vai chover hoje.
I think it's going to rain today.
The futuro do presente in writing, news and formal announcements.
A loja abrirá às nove horas.
The store will open at nine o'clock.
Será? and other guesses about the present: the futuro do presente in fixed phrases.
Será que ele vem hoje?
Do you think he's coming today?
Promises and strong statements, where the futuro sounds solemn.
Nunca esquecerei o que você fez por mim.
I will never forget what you did for me.
Often confused with the conditional.
Regular verbs
Every regular verb follows one of these three: -ar like falar (to speak), -er like comer (to eat), -ir like partir (to leave). The ending is in bold and underlined. Tu is used in parts of Brazil, and is shown last.
Futuro com ir
| Person | falar | comer | partir |
|---|---|---|---|
| eueu | vou falar | vou comer | vou partir |
| vocêvocê, ele, ela, a gente | vai falar | vai comer | vai partir |
| nósnós | vamos falar | vamos comer | vamos partir |
| vocêsvocês, eles, elas | vão falar | vão comer | vão partir |
| tuturegional | vais falar | vais comer | vais partir |
Futuro do presente
| Person | falar | comer | partir |
|---|---|---|---|
| eueu | falarei | comerei | partirei |
| vocêvocê, ele, ela, a gente | falará | comerá | partirá |
| nósnós | falaremos | comeremos | partiremos |
| vocêsvocês, eles, elas | falarão | comerão | partirão |
| tuturegional | falarás | comerás | partirás |
Irregular verbs
The most common irregular verbs in the Futuro do presente, most used first. Verbs built on the same one change the same way: learn ter and you know manter and obter. Irregular forms are marked (irregular).
fazer
- eufarei (irregular)
- vocêfará (irregular)
- nósfaremos (irregular)
- vocêsfarão (irregular)
- tufarás (irregular)
Also: desfazer, satisfazer and 9 more
dizer
- eudirei (irregular)
- vocêdirá (irregular)
- nósdiremos (irregular)
- vocêsdirão (irregular)
- tudirás (irregular)
Also: contradizer, bendizer and 4 more
trazer
- eutrarei (irregular)
- vocêtrará (irregular)
- nóstraremos (irregular)
- vocêstrarão (irregular)
- tutrarás (irregular)
Any verb in the future
How Brazilians use it
The present for the near future
For plans close at hand, Brazilians often just use the present with a time word: amanhã eu te ligo (I'll call you tomorrow), sábado a gente se vê (see you Saturday).
Será que and haverá
The futuro do presente stays alive in speech in a few fixed uses: será que…? for wondering (será que vai dar certo?, I wonder if it'll work out), and haverá in announcements: haverá uma reunião às três.
In Portugal
Portugal also says vou falar, but the futuro do presente (falarei, farei) sounds less stiff there and is heard more often in everyday speech than in Brazil.
Common mistakes
Not
Eu vou ir para a praia amanhã.ButEu vou para a praia amanhã.
Vou ir is heard in Brazil, but with ir itself the present vou already means “I'm going to go”.
Not
Amanhã eu falarei com a minha mãe.ButAmanhã eu vou falar com a minha mãe.
Not wrong, but falarei sounds like a speech or a newspaper. In conversation Brazilians say vou falar.
Not
Eu fazerei o relatório.ButEu farei o relatório.
Three verbs drop a syllable in the futuro do presente: fazer → farei, dizer → direi, trazer → trarei.
Practise the future
Ten questions on the most common verbs. Type the form; you'll see right or wrong at once.
Cheat sheet
The endings and the most common irregular verbs on one printable page.
Future cheat sheet (PDF)Questions
How do you form the future tense in Portuguese?
The everyday way is ir in the present + infinitive: eu vou comer, você vai comer, a gente vai comer, eles vão comer. The one-word future adds -ei, -á, -emos, -ão to the whole infinitive: comerei, comerá, comeremos, comerão.
Do Brazilians use the future tense?
In speech they mostly say vou fazer rather than farei. The futuro do presente is used in writing, the news and formal speech, and in a few fixed phrases such as será que.
What does “será que” mean in Portuguese?
It turns a sentence into a wondering question, like “I wonder if” or “do you think”: será que vai chover? (do you think it's going to rain?).
What is the difference between the future and the conditional in Portuguese?
The future says what will happen (eu farei, I will do); the conditional says what would happen (eu faria, I would do), often with an if-clause in the imperfect subjunctive.
Related tenses: the present, the future subjunctive
See the future in real books
Tables teach the forms; stories teach when to use them. Read Brazilian books and stories at your level, tap any verb for its meaning in that sentence, and press Listen to hear the page in a Brazilian voice.
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