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Now that you know how to form the futuro semplice (both regular and irregular), it is time to use it in real-world situations. In this lesson, we focus on how Italians talk about future plans, make predictions, and use the future tense in combination with common temporal expressions.
When making plans, Italian uses either the present tense (informal) or the futuro semplice (more formal or emphatic):
| Italian | English | Register |
|---|---|---|
| Domani vado al mare. | Tomorrow I go to the beach. | Informal |
| Domani andrò al mare. | Tomorrow I will go to the beach. | More formal |
| Il prossimo anno cambio lavoro. | Next year I change jobs. | Informal |
| Il prossimo anno cambierò lavoro. | Next year I will change jobs. | More formal |
Tip: In conversation, Italians very often prefer the present tense for plans. The futuro semplice adds a sense of determination, formality, or uncertainty.
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| Ho intenzione di + infinitive | I intend to... |
| Penso di + infinitive | I plan to / I am thinking of... |
| Ho deciso di + infinitive | I have decided to... |
| Conto di + infinitive | I plan to / I am counting on... |
| Spero di + infinitive | I hope to... |
| Ho voglia di + infinitive | I feel like... |
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| fra poco | in a little while |
| fra un'ora | in an hour |
| tra due giorni | in two days |
| domani | tomorrow |
| dopodomani | the day after tomorrow |
| stasera | tonight |
| oggi pomeriggio | this afternoon |
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| la settimana prossima | next week |
| il mese prossimo | next month |
| l'anno prossimo | next year |
| fra una settimana | in a week |
| fra un mese | in a month |
| fra un anno | in a year |
| in futuro | in the future |
| un giorno | one day |
| prima o poi | sooner or later |
The futuro semplice is the natural tense for making predictions about what will happen:
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| Domani pioverà. | Tomorrow it will rain. |
| L'Italia vincerà gli Europei. | Italy will win the European Championship. |
| Questo ristorante avrà molto successo. | This restaurant will be very successful. |
| Fra dieci anni le macchine guideranno da sole. | In ten years cars will drive themselves. |
| Non ci saranno problemi. | There will be no problems. |
You can combine the future tense with adverbs and expressions to indicate your level of certainty:
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