Simple Future Tense

What Is the Simple Future Tense?

The simple future tense is used for an action that will occur in the future. For example:

• John will bake a cake.
• They will paint the fence.

More Examples of the Simple Future Tense

Here are some examples of the simple future tense (shaded):

• The Moscow State Circus will perform in Cheltenham next year.
• We will celebrate our anniversary by flying to New York.
• Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later. (Author Og Mandino)
• What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality. (Greek biographer Plutarch)

Forming the Simple Future Tense

The simple future tense is formed:

• She will play.
• Martin will paint.

The Negative Version

If you need the negative version, you can use the following word order:

• The Moscow State Circus will not perform in Cheltenham next year.
• We won't celebrate our anniversary by flying to New York.
(Note: "Will not" can be shortened to "won't" in English.)

The Question Version

If you need to ask a question, you can use the following word order for a yes/no question:

• Will the Moscow State Circus perform in Cheltenham next year?
• Will we celebrate our anniversary by flying to New York?

You can use the following word order for a question-word question:

• When will the Moscow State Circus perform in Cheltenham?
• How will we celebrate our anniversary in New York?

You can use the following word order for a choice question:

• Will the Moscow State Circus perform in Oxford or Cambridge?
• Will we celebrate our anniversary on Friday or Saturday?

Contractions with the Simple Future Tense

Be aware that in speech and writing (particularly informal writing), it is common for will to be shortened to 'll. This is especially common when will follows a personal pronoun (e.g., I, he, she).

• I will > I'll
• he will > he'll
• she will > she'll
• it will > it'll
(This is not as common as the others.)
• you will > you'll
• we will > we'll
• they will > they'll
• who will > who'll
(This is not as common as the others.)

"Will" Used for Emphasis

Be aware that will can be stressed for emphasis. For example:

• When will the cake be ready?
• I can tell you now. She will be accepted.
(When looking for emphasis, you can't use the shortened versions. In other words, you can't use "she'll" in this example if you want to stress the word "will" for emphasis.)

With the negative version, the "not" is stressed. As before, you can't use the shortened version.

• I will not tolerate sloppy drills.
(You can't use "I'll not" or "I won't" if you want to stress the word "not" for emphasis.)

Interactive Verb Conjugation Tables

The tables below show all 12 tenses so you can see the simple future tense among the other tenses. (You can change the verb by clicking one of the green buttons.)

Top 10 Regular Verbs

want look use work start try ask need talk help

Top 10 Irregular Verbs

see say go come know get give become find think

All 4 Past Tenses

Person	Simple Past	Past Progressive Tense	Past Perfect Tense	Past Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	past tense past tense past tense past tense past tense past tense The simple past tense is for a completed activity that happened in the past.	was present participle were present participle was present participle were present participle were present participle were present participle The past progressive tense is for an ongoing activity in the past. Often, it is used to set the scene for another action.	had past participle had past participle had past participle had past participle had past participle had past participle The past perfect tense is for emphasizing that an action was completed before another took place.	had been present participle had been present participle had been present participle had been present participle had been present participle had been present participle The past perfect progressive tense is for showing that an ongoing action in the past has ended.

All 4 Present Tenses

Person	Simple Present	Present Progressive Tense	Present Perfect Tense	Present Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	base form base form 3rd pers sing present base form base form base form The simple present tense is mostly for a fact or a habit.	am present participle are present participle is present participle are present participle are present participle are present participle The present progressive tense is for an ongoing action in the present.	have past participle have past participle has past participle have past participle have past participle have past participle The present perfect tense is for an action that began in the past. (Often, the action continues into the present.)	have been present participle have been present participle has been present participle have been present participle have been present participle have been present participle The present perfect progressive tense is for a continuous activity that began in the past and continues into the present (or finished very recently).

All 4 Future Tenses

Person	Simple Future	Future Progressive Tense	Future Perfect Tense	Future Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	will base form will base form will base form will base form will base form will base form The simple future tense is for an action that will occur in the future.	will be present participle will be present participle will be present participle will be present participle will be present participle will be present participle The future progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will occur in the future.	will have past participle will have past participle will have past participle will have past participle will have past participle will have past participle The future perfect tense is for an action that will have been completed at some point in the future.	will have been present participle will have been present participle will have been present participle will have been present participle will have been present participle will have been present participle The future perfect progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will be completed at some specified time in the future.

Video Lesson

Here is a short, 1-minute video summarizing this lesson on the simple future tense. Click this link for a more detailed video on all the future tenses. video lesson

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The Other Future Tenses

The simple future tense is one of four future tenses. This table shows all four of the future tenses:

The 4 Future Tenses	Example
simple future tense	I will go
future progressive tense	I will be going
future perfect tense	I will have gone
future perfect progressive tense	I will have been going

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