Talking about the future in Portuguese: vou fazer, faço, farei
Portuguese has a future tense, but in everyday speech people rarely use it. Here's what they say instead.
Ir + infinitive: the everyday future
The most common way to talk about the future is ir + infinitive, like “going to”.
Amanhã vou estudar.
Tomorrow I'm going to study.
Vamos jantar fora no sábado.
We're going out for dinner on Saturday.
The present for plans
As in English, the present works for fixed plans: amanhã trabalho até tarde (tomorrow I'm working late).
The simple future: written and formal
Farei, falarás, irá… appears in writing, news and formal speech: a reunião realizar-se-á às 10h. In conversation it can also express a guess: será verdade? (could it be true?).
Try thisIf you master vou + infinitive, you can talk about the future in almost any conversation.
Quick check
The most natural way to say “I'm going to call you later” is…
Practise it properly
Primeiros passos (A1) and Passo a passo (A2) teach only European Portuguese, with exercises and answer keys.
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