224 - How to Say "I'm Going to…" in French (Futur Proche)

 
 

In this episode, you'll learn how to say "I'm going to…" in French using le futur proche.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Links & Cheat Sheet:

Transcript

Hello everyone! Bonjour tout le monde. 🖤 And welcome back to the French Made Easy podcast. This is episode 224, numéro deux cent vingt-quatre!

Today, we’re learning how to say “I’m going to…” in French using le futur proche (the near future.) I’ll explain what that is in a second.

As always, if you’re new to the podcast, welcome! Make sure you have the lesson cheat sheet ready so you can follow along. And when you’ve finished today’s lesson, head over to the French Made Easy Exercise Library to download your exercises and practise what you’ve learned today. All the links are in the episode notes, and it’s free!

Futur proche literally means “near future.” We use it to talk about plans, intentions or things that are going to happen ins the near future. For example, tonight, tomorrow, next week or even in five minutes.

It’s probably the simplest way to talk about future plans in French.

And if you already know the verb aller in the present tense — which you should, because I covered that verb in episode 23 😜 — then you already have everything you need to build it! If you don’t know how to conjugate the verb aller, meaning “to go,” in the present tense, start with episode 23 first.

French also has another future tense called le futur simple, or the simple future. I’ll have another lesson very soon about the difference between the near future and the simple future, cause I think it deserves its own lesson, but today, we’re only focusing on le futur proche.

How to Build the Futur Proche

Let’s talk about how to build it.

You need 2 things:

  1. aller conjugated in the present tense

  2. a verb in the infinitive

The infinitive is simply the unconjugated form of the verb. For example: manger (to eat), partir (to leave), regarder (to watch). Those verbs are infinitives rather than conjugated forms.

“I’m going to cook” becomes:

  1. je vais → the verb aller, conjugated in the present tense

  2. cuisiner → the infinitive.

Je vais cuisiner ce soir. 🍳 (I’m going to cook tonight.)

Recap formula near future in French:

aller (conjugated in the present tense) + infinitive verb

Now, if we keep using cuisiner, we have:

  • je vais cuisiner (I’m going to cook)

  • tu vas cuisiner (you’re going to cook, informal)

  • il va cuisiner (he’s going to cook)

  • elle va cuisiner (she’s going to cook)

  • on va cuisiner (we’re going to cook)

  • nous allons cuisiner (we’re going to cook)

  • vous allez cuisiner (you’re going to cook, formal or plural)

  • ils vont cuisiner (they’re going to cook)

  • elles vont cuisiner (they’re going to cook)

It’s actually pretty simple. The infinitive (cuisiner — in that case) never changes. Only the verb aller is conjugated in the present tense.

You can replace cuisiner with another infinitive to create a completely different sentence.

Example Sentences

Demain, je vais manger chez mes amis. 🍽️ (Tomorrow, I’m going to eat at my friends’ place.)

**Je vais bientôt partir. (**I’m going to leave soon.)

On ne va pas sortir ce week-end. 🏠 (We’re not going to go out this weekend.)

Quick Recap

Futur proche = aller in the present tense + a verb in the infinitive

  • Je vais manger.

  • On va sortir.

  • Vous allez venir.

So that’s all you need to know for today! and that wraps up our lesson on how to say “I’m going to…” in French.

Make sure you download the cheat sheet to review today’s structure and examples. Then, practise building your own sentences with today’s exercises inside the French Made Easy Exercise Library. You’ll find both links in the episode notes. It’s free.

Thanks so much for listening, and I’ll chat with you next week.

À bientôt, bye! 🖤

Mathilde KienComment