The future tense

The verb mood we use most in speaking and writing is the indicative mood. Within this mood is a full range of tenses: present mangio ‘I eat’; past ho mangiato ‘I have eaten’; future mangerò ‘I will eat’

1 The future tense is, of course, used to refer to events which will happen in the future, as in the following examples: 

Andremo a New York - We will go to New York

Non so quando partirò - I don’t know when I’ll leave.

Verrà anche l’anno prossimo, Signora? -Will you come/be coming again next year, Madam?

2 The future is also used to express probability, or a guess: 

Sono le 4.00. Mio marito sarà già a Palermo - It’s 4.00. My husband will be at Palermo by now

La madre di Pietro avrà 30 anni - Pietro’s mother must be around 30. 

Suona il telefono. Chi sarà? Sarà Davide- The phone is ringing. Who could it possibly be? It will be Davide.

3 The future can also correspond to the English present progressive (‘I’m going to . . . ’ etc.): 

When I’m on holiday, I’m going to learn Italian - Quando sarò in vacanza, imparerò l’italiano.

Gli parlerò presto - I’m going to talk/I’ll be talking to them soon. 

Tomorrow I’m going shopping - Domani vado a fare le spese.

4 In certain cases Italian uses the future where English uses the present. Take this English sentence: ‘When/If I earn/am earning good money, I’ll buy a car.’ Here, ‘when’ and ‘if’ actually refer to an action in the future; in cases like this, Italian normally uses the future tense:

Se c’è un problema, mi potrai chiamare con il cellulare - If there’s a problem, you’ll be able to call me on the mobile phone
Se guadagnerò bene, comprerò una macchina - If I earn/am earning good money, I’ll buy a car. 

Se tu sei intelligente, non avrai difficoltà a imparare l’italiano - If you’re clever, you won’t have any trouble learning Italian.

5 In general, the future tense is used less in Italian than in English, and it is often possible, when talking about something which we are almost sure will happen, to use the present:

Fra poco siamo in Francia -Soon we’ll be in France.

Partono domani - They’ll leave/They’re leaving tomorrow.

L’anno prossimo sono all’università - Next year I’ll be at university.

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