How to Teach the French Futur Simple – A French Teacher’s Guide
When I teach le futur simple, I want students to see that the tense is much more manageable than it may initially appear.
There are two things students need to learn: the future stem and the future endings. Once they understand that pattern, they can form the futur simple with regular verbs quite easily. The bigger challenge comes with the common verbs that have irregular future stems.
I also like to compare the futur simple with the futur proche, because students already know how to talk about the future using aller + infinitive. Seeing the two forms side by side gives them a practical way to understand and practice the new tense.
French Futur Proche to Futur Simple Worksheets
Looking for resources to help you teach le futur simple? Scroll down to the section at the end of this post to see my ready-to-use resources for this topic.
I start by comparing le futur proche and le futur simple
Before getting into conjugation, I remind students that they already know one way to talk about the future in French:
aller + infinitive
This is the futur proche, or near future.
For example:
Je vais finir mes devoirs avant minuit.
I am going to finish my homework before midnight.
Then I show students the futur simple:
Je finirai mes devoirs avant minuit.
I will finish my homework before midnight.
Many times, either the futur proche or the futur simple can be used.
The important difference I emphasize in this lesson is the basic idea expressed by each form:
FUTUR PROCHE = I am going to do something
FUTUR SIMPLE = I will do something
I find that this comparison makes the new tense feel much less intimidating. Students aren’t starting from zero. They already know how to talk about the future; we’re adding another way to do it.
I explain that the futur simple can express a more uncertain future
I also introduce the idea that the futur simple can be used when talking about something that is more uncertain.
For example:
Quand j’aurai 40 ans, je serai riche.
When I’m 40 years old, I’ll be rich.
There’s a sense of possibility or uncertainty here. It isn’t necessarily something that has already been planned.
I also use:
Quand tu auras 18 ans, tu pourras conduire.
When you’re 18 years old, you will be able to drive.
These examples give students an opportunity to see the futur simple being used naturally rather than simply as a conjugation exercise.
I teach students to start with the full infinitive
Once students understand the basic idea, I move on to formation.
For regular verbs, I make this as straightforward as possible:
Start with the full infinitive and add the futur simple endings.
For verbs ending in -ER, the stem is the full infinitive:
PARLER-
For verbs ending in -IR, the stem is also the full infinitive:
FINIR-
For verbs ending in -RE, students take off the final -e:
ATTENDR-
Then we add the future endings.
This is one of the places where I want students to notice a pattern rather than memorize every conjugation separately.
I teach the futur simple endings
The endings are:
je → -ai
tu → -as
il / elle / on → -a
nous → -ons
vous → -ez
ils / elles → -ont
I point out that these endings look very much like forms of avoir in the present tense:
j’ai
tu as
il a
nous avons
vous avez
ils ont
This is a very useful memory aid for students.
The endings are added to the future stem, so students can think of the pattern as:
stem + avoir ending
Once they recognize that connection, the endings become much easier to remember.
French Futur Simple – La Routine Quotidienne Reading & Listening Comprehension
I use parler to show the complete pattern
I then use a regular -ER verb so students can see exactly how the system works.
With parler, the full infinitive becomes the stem:
parler-
Then we add the endings:
je parlerai
tu parleras
il parlera
elle parlera
on parlera
nous parlerons
vous parlerez
ils parleront
elles parleront
I have students look at the endings rather than trying to memorize the entire conjugation as one long list.
The same endings will be used with other regular verbs.
I show that regular -IR verbs work the same way
Next, I use finir.
The stem is simply the full infinitive:
finir-
So:
je finirai
tu finiras
il finira
elle finira
on finira
nous finirons
vous finirez
ils finiront
elles finiront
The important thing is that students recognize that -ER and -IR verbs follow the same basic formation pattern.
The stem comes from the infinitive, and the same future endings are added.
I point out the difference with -RE verbs
Then I show students what happens with regular -RE verbs.
With attendre, we remove the final e:
attendr-
Then we add the same endings:
j’attendrai
tu attendras
il attendra
elle attendra
on attendra
nous attendrons
vous attendrez
ils attendront
elles attendront
I make sure students understand that the endings have not changed.
Only the way we find the stem is different.
I have students practice by changing le futur proche into le futur simple
Once students understand the formation, I like to give them a very practical exercise: change sentences from the futur proche to the futur simple.
This works particularly well because students already understand the meaning of the original sentence.
For example:
Futur proche:
Je vais étudier le français.
Students change it to:
Futur simple:
Je étudierai le français.
The exercise then continues with sentences such as:
Tu vas travailler en France.
Il va manger des spaghettis.
Elle va parler anglais.
On va danser ce soir.
Nous allons cuisiner ensemble.
Students aren’t having to invent a sentence and conjugate a completely unfamiliar verb at the same time. They already have the future meaning and the infinitive. Their job is to transform the verb into the futur simple.
This is a very natural transition from something they already know to something new.
I introduce irregular future stems
Once students are comfortable with regular verbs, I introduce the part of the futur simple that requires more memorization: irregular future stems.
The good news is that the endings do not change.
Even when the stem is irregular, students still use:
-ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont
I tell students that they now have to learn a new stem for certain common verbs.
I focus on the fact that these are common verbs, so learning them is worthwhile. Students will see and use them constantly.
I teach the most common irregular stems
The irregular stems in my lesson are:
aller → ir-
avoir → aur-
courir → courr-
devoir → devr-
envoyer → enverr-
être → ser-
faire → fer-
falloir → faudr-
mourir → mourr-
obtenir → obtiendr-
pleuvoir → pleuvr-
pouvoir → pourr-
recevoir → recevr-
savoir → saur-
tenir → tiendr-
venir → viendr-
voir → verr-
vouloir → voudr-
I don’t try to make students memorize all of these at once without context. I have them practice the stems repeatedly and then use them in actual futur simple sentences.
French Verb Conjugation Drill – 30 Irregular Verbs in the Futur Simple
I connect the irregular stems to verbs students already know
One thing I like about this list is that many of these verbs are already familiar to students.
For example:
aller → ir- → j’irai
avoir → aur- → j’aurai
être → ser- → je serai
faire → fer- → je ferai
pouvoir → pourr- → je pourrai
savoir → saur- → je saurai
vouloir → voudr- → je voudrai
This gives students a useful reminder: they aren’t learning completely new verbs. They’re learning what happens to these familiar verbs when they move into the futur simple.
I have students practice regular and irregular verbs together
After introducing the irregular stems, I mix regular and irregular verbs in practice.
This is important because I don’t want students to think:
regular verbs = one system
and
irregular verbs = completely different system
The endings are actually the same.
The main question becomes:
What stem do I need?
If it’s a regular verb, students can form the stem from the infinitive.
If it’s one of the common irregular verbs, they need to remember its irregular stem.
Then the same future endings are added.
French Futur Simple | Role Play Skits & Dialogues | Speaking & Reading Practice
I return to le futur proche for review
I also like to return to the futur proche after students have learned the futur simple.
This gives them another way to practice the new tense without having to invent a meaning from scratch.
For example:
Je vais voir si je peux.
can become:
Je verrai si je peux.
And:
Il va falloir être organisé.
becomes:
Il faudra être organisé.
I also use examples such as:
Il va pleuvoir demain.
which becomes:
Il pleuvra demain.
This gives students repeated practice with irregular future stems while reinforcing the relationship between the futur proche and futur simple.
I make the irregular verbs part of regular review
I don’t want students to learn the irregular stems once and then forget them.
The verbs être, avoir, aller, faire, devoir, pouvoir, savoir, vouloir, venir, voir, and the others on the list are common enough that they naturally lend themselves to continued review.
Whenever students work with the futur simple, I include a mixture of regular and irregular verbs.
Over time, the stems become familiar simply because students keep seeing them.
French Futur Simple – French Grammar Activity
I remind students that the endings stay the same
This is probably the most important thing I want students to remember about the futur simple:
The future endings are consistent.
Whether students are working with:
parler → parlerai
or
être → serai
or
avoir → aurai
or
venir → viendrai
the endings follow the same pattern.
The challenge with irregular verbs is the stem, not the endings.
That gives students a much simpler way to approach the tense.
I bring the whole futur simple pattern together
By the end of the lesson, I want students to be able to look at a verb and work through the process:
Start with the infinitive.
Find the future stem.
Add the appropriate future ending.
For regular verbs:
-ER → full infinitive
-IR → full infinitive
-RE → remove the final e
For irregular verbs, use the irregular future stem.
Then add:
-ai
-as
-a
-ons
-ez
-ont
Once students see the futur simple as stem + ending, rather than as a completely new conjugation system, it becomes much more manageable.
Practice the French Futur Simple!
If you’re teaching le futur simple, these ready-to-use resources can give your students additional practice with regular and irregular future forms, future stems, and the difference between the futur proche and futur simple.
French Futur Simple Bundle – Speaking activities, grammar and games
Le Futur Simple – French PowerPoint Jeopardy Game – Simple Future Gameshow
French Futur Simple Tense – Dice Game
