September 27, 2018

Youpi! C’est le week-end!

Fall definitely is my favourite season. I love taking long walks in the colourful countryside or spending time in Geneva’s cosy cafés for long coffee & chats with friends. I tend to stay a bit more indoors to enjoy some loveydovey time with my hubby and my little boy! We love baking, reading or watching new Netflix shows together from the comfort of our warm apartment.

What about you? What are you going to do this weekend?

Do you know how to express yourself using the future tenses in French?


Here are 5 Great Tips to Talk About Your Future Plans in French


1. Le futur est si proche!

The easiest way to express your upcoming plans is to use the verb tense called futur proche, which is the equivalent to going to + verb in the infinitive form in English.

Futur proche is used every day by most native speakers to talk about what they will do in the near future, i.e. in a few hours, tomorrow or in the next few days. It is considered more informal.

Verbe aller au présent + verbe à l’infinitif

  • Je vais manger une salade. (I am going to eat a salad.)
  • Tu vas parler avec ta mère ce soir. (You are going to speak with your mother tonight.)
  • Il va acheter une baguette au supermarché.  (He is going to buy a baguette at the supermarket.)
  • Nous allons faire une randonnée dans quelques heures.  (We are going hiking in a few hours.)
  • Vous allez écrire un courriel à votre patron. (You are going to write an email to your boss.)
  • Ils vont se reposer cet après-midi parce qu’ils sont très fatigués. (They are going to relax/take it easy this afternoon because they are very tired.

2. What Is The Plan For Today?

  • Qu’est-ce que tu vas faire aujourd’hui? (What are you going to do today?) 
  • Comme je suis en congé, je pense que je vais aller m’entraîner au centre de fitness ce matin. (As I have a day off, I think I’m going to work out at the gym this morning.)
  • Ensuite, je vais faire les courses en après-midi. (Then, I’m going (to go) grocery shopping in the afternoon.)
  • Je vais acheter un poulet rôti pour le dîner. (I am going to buy a roasted chicken for dinner.)
  • Je vais aller chercher mes parents à la station de train en soirée. (I am going to pick up my parents at the train station in the evening.)
  • Ils vont arriver à la Gare Cornavin vers 18h30. (They are going to arrive at Gare Cornavin around 6.30 PM.)
  • Ma mère m’a dit qu’ils vont sûrement arriver à l’heure. (My mother told me that they are probably going to be on time.)
  • Ils vont prendre le train de bonne heure demain matin. (They are going to take the train quite early tomorrow morning.)
  • Ils vont passer quelques jours à la montagne. (They are going to spend a few days in the mountains.)

3. Le futur n’est pas si simple!

Another more formal way to express your future plans is to use a verb tense called futur simple, which isn’t as simple to use as futur proche, but not quite as complicated as some might think! I recommend using futur simple in more formal situations during which you want to show respect or impress your speaking partner with your mastery of futur simple!

This verb tense is very similar to the modal verb will in English. We take the infinitive (for re-verbs, we remove the last e) and add the following endings: ai, as, a, ons, ez, ont. Être and avoir are irregular, as always.

For irregular verbs, please refer to Le Conjugueur, a very useful tool to learn and check your French conjugation.

  • Je parlerai* avec elle aujourd’hui. (I will speak with her today.)
  • Tu habiteras toujours à Genève l’an prochain? (Will you still live in Geneva next year?)
  • Il finira son rapport avant la fin de la journée. (He will finish his report before the end of the day.)
  • Nous partagerons notre Airbnb avec nos meilleurs amis lors de notre prochain long week-end. (We will share our Airbnb with our best friends during our next long weekend.)
  • Vous mangerez bien un petit morceau avec nous, n’est-ce pas? (You will eat a bite with us, won’t you?)
  • Ils agiront en temps et lieu. (They will act in due course.)

*Please note that the ending ”ai” is pronounced like é in café or say.*


4. Les recettes de grammaire de Marine

Watch Marine’s special grammar recipes to review how and when to use “le futur simple & le futur proche en français”!

https://youtu.be/KrJQVCJgsL8


5. Practice Makes Perfect!

Would you like to improve your French conversation and pronunciation?

FFEL is the perfect solution for you if:

  • You are an expat living in a French Speaking Country
  • You need to improve your French language skills, but don’t have the time or the budget for private lessons.
  • You need more tools to improve your French pronunciation

Les Super Profs de Prêt à Parler have spent a lot of time designing and creating an online French learning program which would best answer the needs of real beginners as well as more intermediate learners who need to review the basics to be able to interact more confidently in their everyday life in French.

If you are looking for an efficient, relevant, interactive and fun approach to learning French, we highly recommend subscribing to our program!

I hope you now have more tools to talk about your future plans in French!

Isabelle

As a native Québécoise, born to a Franco-Belgian family, now living in Nyon with her two children, Isabelle is no stranger to the expat reality! Trained as a professional opera singer, her passion for arts and languages led her to become an ambassador of the French language & francophone culture, i.e. a French Teacher!

She founded Prêt à Parler in January 2015. Since then she's been hard at work helping native and non-native English-speaking expats make French part of their everyday life! Prêt à Parler's mission is based on what Isabelle does best: helping busy professionals and parents improve their French language skills by providing a high quality, eco-friendly, fun, no-nonsense approach to learning French online!

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