Lesson 36

The Future Hidden Inside Haber

Language Transfer Complete Spanish is by Mihalis Eleftheriou. Listen to the original audio first; use these notes for revision.

The future tense doesn't require any new sounds — the endings come directly from haber. The trick to remember haber's irregular forms: look at the two vowels inside "haber" — /a/ and /e/:

From /e/	From /a/
he = I have	ha = he/she/formal has
hemos = we have	han = they have
	has = you (inf) have

Now take those same sounds and stick them on the END of the full infinitive:

Person	Ending	hablar	comer	ir
I	-é	hablaré	comeré	iré
We	-emos	hablaremos	comeremos	iremos
He/she/formal	-á	hablará	comerá	irá
They	-án	hablarán	comerán	irán
You (inf)	-ás	hablarás	comerás	irás

The accent is pushed to the end — pushed into the future. This happens in other languages too — in Greek, for example, part of the past tense pulls the accent BACK into the past.

Critical: Think out the WHOLE verb first, THEN add the ending. A common mistake is saying "preparé" instead of "prepararé" — missing the full verb.

Memory hook: Irán = they will go. Irán a Irán = They will go to Iran.

Qué será, será = What will be will be.

The future tense isn't used as often as you'd think — present + context or voy a cover most situations. But it exists and now you know it.

Sentences practiced

Spanish	English
Desayuno con ellos mañana.	I'm having breakfast with them tomorrow.
Voy a desayunar con ellos.	I'm going to have breakfast with them.
He dormido.	I've slept.
Hemos dormido.	We've slept.
Ha dormido.	He's slept.
Lo han recomendado.	They have recommended it.
Comeré.	I'll eat.
Comeremos.	We'll eat.
Comerá.	He'll eat.
Comerás.	You'll eat.
Comerán.	They'll eat.
Iré.	I'll go.
Iremos.	We'll go.
Irá.	He'll go.
Irán.	They'll go.
Irás.	You'll go.
Irán a Irán.	They will go to Iran.
¿Irás?	Will you go?
¿No irás?	Won't you go?
¿Por qué no irás?	Why won't you go?
Encontraré.	I'll find.
Lo encontraré.	I'll find it.
Lo encontraremos.	We'll find it.
Lo encontrará.	He'll find it.
Los encontrará.	He'll find them.
Me quedaré.	I'll stay.
Me quedaré aquí.	I'll stay here.
Prepararé.	I'll prepare.
Esperaré.	I'll wait.
Organizará.	He'll organize.
Organizarán.	They'll organize.
Estaré cansada.	I'll be tired.
Será.	It will be. (from ser)
Qué será, será.	What will be will be.