9. Quand Je Serai Grand(e): Using The Future

9.1 Reminder: Le Futur Proche

9.2 The Future Tense (Regular and Irregular Verbs)

9.3 Interrogative Pronouns

9.1 Reminder: Le Futur Proche

To express events that will happen in the near future, you can use a present-tense form of aller, followed by a verb at the infinitive:

Je vais aller au cinéma ce soir (‘I’m going to go to the theater tonight’).

Nous allons voir un film d’action (‘We are going to watch an action movie’).

9.2 The Future Tense (Regular and Irregular Verbs)

In Anna’s class, students are asked to write a short text where they say what they hope to do in the future. Here is what Anna wrote:

“Je voyagerai (travel) dans de nombreux pays et j’apprendrai plusieurs langues. J’aime les animaux, donc j’étudierai pour devenir vétérinaire. Mon frère Julien aime les animaux aussi, donc nous travaillerons ensemble.”

The future tense of regular verbs is fairly easy:

(1) You use the infinitive of the verb as the stem.

(2) You add the following endings:

Je

-AI

Nous

-ONS

Tu

-AS

Vous

-EZ

Il/Elle/On

-A

Ils/Elles

-ONT

Example with étudier:

J’étudier +-AI

J’étudierai pour devenir vétérinaire.

All verbs whose infinitive ends in -RE (regular and irregular ones) drop the ‘-e’ before adding endings:

Apprendre J’apprendrai plusieurs langues

One of Anna’s classmates also talks about his future plans: “Quand je serai grand, j’aurai une grande famille, une femme et trois enfants. Nous irons souvent en voyage dans des pays étrangers et nous verrons des endroits magnifiques.”

Some verbs have an irregular stem at the future that differs significantly from the infinitive. However, their endings remain the same than this of regular verbs. The following table gives you the conjugation of the most irregular verbs at the future.

Verb (infinitive) Stem Verb

(infinitive) Stem

Aller (To go) IR- Devoir (to have to) DEVR-

Avoir (to have) AUR- Savoir

(to know) SAUR-

Être (to be) SER- Venir

(to come) VIENDR

Faire (to do) FER- Voir

(to see) VERR-

Pouvoir (to be able

to)POURR- Vouloir

(To want) VOUDR-

J’irai en France cet été.

Il y aura beaucoup de musées à visiter à Paris.

Je pourrai parler français pendant le voyage.

Mes parents viendront aussi en France cet été.

9.3 Interrogative Pronouns

Anna’s teacher asks other students what they want to do when they grow up:

T: Thomas, qu’est-ce que tu feras quand tu seras grand?

Th: Quand je serai grand, je serai architecte!

T: Et toi, Élise, qu’est-ce qui t’intéresses comme métier?

É: Avocate est un métier qui m’intéresse.

French interrogative pronouns are a bit more complex than English ones.

We will review the different ways to ask ‘who(m)’ and ‘what’ in French.

There are two things to know when deciding on which pronoun to use in French:

(1) Whether you are asking ‘who(m)’ or ‘what’.

(2) Whether the interrogative is subject or object.

French interrogative pronouns are made of two parts:

(1) The first part corresponds to whether you are asking ‘who(m)’ or ‘what’

(2) The second part corresponds to the grammatical function of the interrogative (subject or direct object).

(1) If you are asking about a person (‘who(m)’), your pronoun will start with qui:

-Qui est-ce que tu aimes?

-J’aime mes parents.

(2) If you are asking about a thing (‘what’), your pronoun will start with que/qu’:

-Qu’est-ce que tu aimes faire?

-J’aime jouer au hockey.

(3) When you are asking about a person and the interrogative is the subject of the sentence, you will use the pronoun qui est-ce qui?:

-Qui est-ce qui va chercher Marie à l’aéroport?

-Pierre va chercher Marie à l’aéroport.

Note: Qui est-ce qui is the only interrogative pronoun that can be shortened to qui?

When you are asking about a person and the interrogative is the object of the sentence (‘whom’), you will use the pronoun qui est-ce que?

-Qui est-ce que tu aimes?

-J’aime mes parents.

When you are asking about a thing and the interrogative is the subject of the sentence, you will use the pronoun qu’est-ce qui?:

-Qu’est-ce qui a lieu (happens) ce week end?

-Mon anniversaire a lieu ce week end.

When you are asking about a thing and the interrogative is the object of the sentence, you will use the pronoun qu’est-ce que?:

-Qu’est-ce que tu feras ce week end?

-Ce week end, je ferai mes devoirs.