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Quick Grammar Reference
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>>Verbs > Future Indicative
The indicative mood is the most basic mood in Portuguese (also see the sections on the subjunctive mood and the imperative mood in verbs). This is the mood that you will use for making a statement or asking a question. In the phrases he is happy and is he happy?, you use the verb "is" in the indicative mood.
The tense refers to the time period of a verb. Quite simply, the future tense is used to express an action in the future. The equivalent concept in English is will, as in we will go with you.
To form the future indicative, you will take the infinitive (with its -ar, -er, or -ir ending) and add the following endings. See the section on subject pronouns for more information on the pronouns listed in the left column.
| -ar verbs (falar to speak) | -er verbs (vender to sell) | -ir verbs (partir to leave) | |
| eu | -arei (falarei) | -erei (venderei) | -irei (partirei) |
| tu (Portugal only) | -arás (falarás) | -erás (venderás) | -irás (partirás) |
| ele, ela, você | -ará (falará) | -erá (venderá) | -irá (partirá) |
| nós | -aremos (falaremos) | -eremos (venderemos) | -iremos (partiremos) |
| vós (archaic) | -areis (falareis) | -ereis (vendereis) | -ireis (partireis) |
| eles, elas, vocês | -arão (falarão) | -erão (venderão) | -irão (partirão) |
This is a comparatively easy tense to use, since it nearly always corresponds to the English shall or will (do). Remember that you should choose the present indicative over the future indicative when the action will take place in the very near future (for example, that same day).
Keep in mind that, unlike in English, it is not necessary to use a subject pronoun or a noun with the verb. Falarei and eu falarei both mean I will speak. You may choose to use them when clarifying (ela falará she will speak, when she is not already obvious from context) or emphasizing (eles partirão THEY will leave).
The future indicative is sometimes used where English speakers might prefer should or ought to. After hearing your doorbell ring, será meu amigo (it) will be my friend shows that you expect to find your friend at the door when you open it (ser to be). Even if an English speaker feels more comfortable with that should be my friend, it is not to difficult to see why Portuguese speakers use the future in these situations.
Only a few verbs have irregular forms in the future:
Dizer to say (future indicative: eu direi, tu dirás, ele/ela dirá, nós diremos vós direis, eles/elas dirão). Eu direi means I will say. Eles não dirão means they will not say.
Fazer to do, to make (future indicative: eu farei, tu farás, ele/ela fará, nós faremos vós fareis, eles/elas farão). Eu farei means I will do. Eles não farão means they will not do.
Trazer to bring (future indicative: eu trarei, tu trarás, ele/ela trará, nós traremos vós trareis, eles/elas trarão). Eu trarei means I will bring. Eles não trarão means they will not bring.
Pôr to put, to place is entirely regular, but it does remove its accent (eu porei, etc.).
The future indicative and the conditional share the same irregular verbs and are constructed very similarly. The conditional, however, translates to would (do).
The future of ter to have is used in phrases like I will have spoken or he will have gone that require an auxiliary or compound verb construction.