Lesson 26 · 6 min read
Talking About the Future and Making Plans in Spanish
Spanish has three ways of expressing the future, and courses often teach the most formal one first. In everyday speech, the construction people reach for overwhelmingly is ir a plus an infinitive — the exact equivalent of English "going to". Learning that one properly will carry almost every conversation you have.
1. The everyday future: ir a + infinitive
Conjugate ir, add a, then the plain infinitive. Voy a comer, vas a salir, vamos a ver. This is what people say. It works for anything from the next five minutes to next year, and it is the form to default to unless you have a reason not to.
| Spanish | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Voy a… | I'm going to… | Voy a llamarte esta noche. — I'm going to call you tonight. |
| Vamos a ver | We'll see | Vamos a ver qué pasa. — We'll see what happens. |
| ¿Qué vas a hacer? | What are you going to do? | ¿Qué vas a hacer el fin de semana? — What are you doing at the weekend? |
| No voy a poder | I'm not going to be able to | No voy a poder ir, lo siento. — I won't be able to come, sorry. |
| Va a llover | It's going to rain | Creo que va a llover. — I think it is going to rain. |
2. The simple future, and what it is really for
The -é, -ás, -á endings form the simple future: hablaré, comerás, vivirá. It appears in writing, in formal speech and in promises. But its most common spoken use is not the future at all — it expresses probability about the present. ¿Dónde está Ana? Estará en casa means she is probably at home, not that she will be later.
| Spanish | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| hablaré / hablarás | I will speak / you will speak | Mañana hablaré con él. — I will speak to him tomorrow. |
| Estará en casa | He's probably at home | No contesta, estará durmiendo. — He's not answering, he must be asleep. |
| Serán las diez | It must be about ten o'clock | Serán las diez más o menos. — It's probably about ten. |
| Te lo prometo | I promise you | Vendré, te lo prometo. — I'll come, I promise. |
| tendré que… | I will have to… | Tendré que salir temprano. — I will have to leave early. |
3. The present tense as a future
For anything scheduled, Spanish frequently just uses the present tense, exactly as English does with timetables. El tren sale a las ocho. Mañana trabajo. This is not casual or sloppy — it is the normal way to state a fixed arrangement, and it is often the most natural of the three options.
| Spanish | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Mañana trabajo | I'm working tomorrow | Mañana trabajo hasta las seis. — Tomorrow I'm working until six. |
| El tren sale a las ocho | The train leaves at eight | El tren sale a las ocho en punto. — The train leaves at eight sharp. |
| La semana que viene | Next week | La semana que viene voy a Sevilla. — Next week I'm going to Seville. |
| pasado mañana | the day after tomorrow | Nos vemos pasado mañana. — See you the day after tomorrow. |
| dentro de una hora | in an hour | Llego dentro de una hora. — I'll be there in an hour. |
4. Making plans with someone
Arranging to meet has its own small set of phrases, and the key verb is quedar — a word with no clean English equivalent that means to arrange to meet. ¿Quedamos el sábado? is the standard way to propose something. Note that quedar with a different construction means to remain or to suit, so context does a lot of work.
| Spanish | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ¿Quedamos? | Shall we meet up? | ¿Quedamos el sábado por la tarde? — Shall we meet on Saturday afternoon? |
| ¿Te viene bien? | Does that suit you? | ¿Te viene bien a las siete? — Does seven suit you? |
| Me viene fatal | That's really bad for me | El lunes me viene fatal. — Monday is really bad for me. |
| Nos vemos allí | We'll see each other there | Vale, nos vemos allí. — OK, see you there. |
| Tengo un compromiso | I have a prior engagement | Ese día tengo un compromiso. — I have something on that day. |
Common mistakes
Voy comer → Voy a comer
The a is obligatory and is the whole construction. Dropping it turns the sentence into something ungrammatical rather than merely informal.
Yo voy a ir a ir al cine → Voy a ir al cine
Only one infinitive follows ir a. The doubling comes from over-correcting; ir a ir is right only in the sense of going in order to go.
¿Encontramos el sábado? → ¿Quedamos el sábado?
Encontrar means to find, or to run into someone by chance. Deliberately arranging to meet is quedar, or quedar con alguien.