Italian Future Tense: Regular and Irregular Verbs + Practice Sentences
The Italian future tense — il futuro semplice — is one of the more learner-friendly tenses in Italian. It uses a single set of endings across all verb types, and those endings are easy to remember. Even the irregular verbs only change their stem, not the endings. This guide covers everything: formation rules, the most important irregular verbs, and a feature of Italian you may not have encountered — using the future to express probability in the present.
To form the Italian future tense, take the infinitive, make a small change to the stem, then add the future endings. For -are verbs, the 'a' changes to 'e' (parlare → parler-). For -ere verbs, drop the final 'e' (credere → creder-). For -ire verbs, drop the final 'e' (partire → partir-). Then add the same endings for all three types.
Future Tense Endings — All Verb Types
| Person | Ending | Parlare | Credere | Partire |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| io | -ò | parlerò | crederò | partirò |
| tu | -ai | parlerai | crederai | partirai |
| lui/lei | -à | parlerà | crederà | partirà |
| noi | -emo | parleremo | crederemo | partiremo |
| voi | -ete | parlerete | crederete | partirete |
| loro | -anno | parleranno | crederanno | partiranno |
The io form ends in -ò and the lui/lei form ends in -à — both with a grave accent. These accents matter for stress: without them, 'parlero' and 'parlera' would be stressed differently. The accent marks the stress on the final vowel, which is what distinguishes the future from other tenses in speech.
Irregular Future Stems — The Essential List
| Infinitive | Future stem | Io form | Loro form |
|---|---|---|---|
| essere | sar- | sarò | saranno |
| avere | avr- | avrò | avranno |
| andare | andr- | andrò | andranno |
| venire | verr- | verrò | verranno |
| fare | far- | farò | faranno |
| dare | dar- | darò | daranno |
| stare | star- | starò | staranno |
| potere | potr- | potrò | potranno |
| volere | vorr- | vorrò | vorranno |
| dovere | dovr- | dovrò | dovranno |
| sapere | sapr- | saprò | sapranno |
| tenere | terr- | terrò | terranno |
| rimanere | rimarr- | rimarrò | rimarranno |
| vedere | vedr- | vedrò | vedranno |
| vivere | vivr- | vivrò | vivranno |
| bere | berr- | berrò | berranno |
Notice a pattern in the irregulars: verbs ending in -ere (avere, vedere, vivere, bere) often contract to drop a vowel from the stem. Verbs ending in -enere, -enire, -olere double the 'r': venire → verr-, volere → vorr-, tenere → terr-. These are the most important patterns to memorise.
Future Tense — Plans and Predictions
Domani andrò al mare.
Tomorrow I'll go to the seaside.
L'anno prossimo studieremo in Italia.
Next year we'll study in Italy.
Vedrai, andrà tutto bene.
You'll see, everything will be fine.
Quando finirò il corso, parlerò italiano benissimo.
When I finish the course, I'll speak Italian very well.
I negozi saranno chiusi domani.
The shops will be closed tomorrow.
The Italian future tense is also used to express probability or conjecture about the present — something English usually expresses with 'must be' or 'probably is.' This is a unique feature of Italian that takes some getting used to.
Future Tense for Present Probability (Futuro di probabilità)
Saranno le tre. (Sento le campane.)
It must be three o'clock. (I can hear the bells.)
Dov'è Marco? Sarà in ufficio.
Where is Marco? He's probably at the office.
Quanti anni avrà? Avrà trent'anni.
How old must she be? She's probably around thirty.
Perché non risponde? Sarà occupato.
Why isn't he answering? He must be busy.
In everyday spoken Italian, a near-future action is often expressed with the present tense (just like English 'I'm going to Rome tomorrow' uses present continuous): 'Domani vado a Roma' is perfectly natural and very common. The futuro semplice sounds more formal or emphasises the future nature of the event more strongly. Use the present for near, definite plans; use the future for more remote or hypothetical events.
Future After Time Conjunctions
Quando arriverai, ti chiamo.
When you arrive, I'll call you.
Appena finirà di piovere, usciremo.
As soon as it stops raining, we'll go out.
Dopo che avranno mangiato, partiranno.
After they have eaten, they will leave.
The future in common Italian expressions
Vedrai che avevo ragione io! — You'll see that I was right!
Sarà quel che sarà — non posso farci niente. — Whatever will be, will be — I can't do anything about it.
Riusciranno? Chi vivrà vedrà. — Will they succeed? Time will tell.
Tranquillo, non ci sarà nessun problema. — Don't worry, there will be no problem.
2,500+ free exercises are waiting for you.
Start practising free →