Near Future

Near Future (futuro próximo), as the name suggests, describes future events that are about to happen. However, in daily use of Spanish, the Near Future can cover 90% of "future scenarios", so this tutorial only teaches the Near Future, without involving the Simple Future (Futuro Simple) based on verb conjugation.

The Near Future is actually the exact correspondent of the "be going to do" structure in English. Its grammatical structure is ir + a + inf. (ir conjugated in Present Indicative + a + verb infinitive). So as long as you master the conjugation of ir and the verb infinitive, you can get the Near Future of that verb.

The table above also lists the Near Future for vosotros. Although you don't need to learn how to use this person, when you see "vais a ...", you know it's the Near Future of vosotros.

Position of Object Pronouns

As mentioned earlier in the declarative sentence structure, if the object is a pronoun (accusative or reflexive), it should be placed before the verb. For the Near Future, we should treat the ir + a + inf. structure as a whole "big verb" (Verbal Periphrasis, Perífrasis Verbal). Regarding the position of object pronouns, there are two equivalent ways:

• Place the pronoun object before the "big verb" (the entire ir+a+inf. structure)
  • Me voy a lavar. (I am going to wash myself.)
  • Lo voy a comprar. (I am going to buy it.)
• Append as a suffix to the inf.
  • Voy a lavarme.
  • Voy a comprarlo.

More complex case 1: Noun direct object + Pronoun indirect object (dative). Also two equivalent ways:

• Dative pronoun placed before the "big verb", direct object after: Te voy a dar el libro. (I am going to give you the book.)

• Dative pronoun appended as a suffix to the inf., direct object after: Voy a darte el libro.

More complex case 2: Pronoun direct object (accusative/reflexive) + Pronoun indirect object (dative). Also two equivalent ways:

• Indirect object + Direct object placed before the "big verb": Te lo voy a dar. (I am going to give it to you.)

• Dative pronoun + Accusative pronoun appended as a suffix to the inf.: Voy a dártelo.

Note:

1. Only pronouns can be moved before the "verb" or appended after the "verb". Noun objects are always placed after, following the traditional (Subject)-Verb-Object structure.

2. If the "append as suffix" scheme is adopted, the stress of the verb needs to be kept from drifting due to the appended suffix, so a stress mark may need to be added to the original stressed syllable of the verb as needed (dártelo in the example above).

Vamos Imperative (= English Let's structure)

The literal meaning of vamos in the table above is "we are going to...", but in spoken language, this structure is generally used as the correspondent of the English "Let's do xxx" structure.

• Mañana vamos a trabajar. (Let's work tomorrow.)

• ¡Vamos a comer! (Let's eat!)

About "Big Verbs" (Verb Phrases)

The formal name is Verbal Periphrasis (Perífrasis Verbal), that is, the ir + a + inf. structure mentioned above is regarded as an indivisible integral unit. Grammatically, the definition of Perífrasis Verbal is: two or more words combined to function as "one verb". Its standard structure includes:

1. Auxiliary Verb (Verbo auxiliar): Responsible for conjugation (such as voy, vas), providing tense and person information, but losing its original literal meaning (here ir does not really mean "walking to" somewhere, but indicates temporal state).

2. Connector (Nexo): Preposition or conjunction (such as a, de, que), sometimes not needed.

3. Main Verb (Verbo principal): Infinitive or participle (such as comer), responsible for providing actual meaning.

Besides ir + a + inf., there are the following verbal periphrasis structures:

Note that the main verb of most verbal periphrases is the infinitive (inf.), but the main verb of "Progress" (ndo in the table) is the gerund (gerundio). We will learn about gerundio in the Progressive Tense chapter.

The Essence of Ir+a+inf. (What is Tense?)

You may have noticed that the verbal periphrasis structures in the table above are basically consistent. Except for the one expressing progress (+ndo) which is Progressive Tense, other verbal periphrases are all in Present Indicative. (Strictly speaking, "Present Progressive" is the specific aspect of Present Indicative, which also belongs to Present Indicative.) So why are other verbal periphrases all Present Indicative, but ir+a+inf. "becomes" another "tense"?

This involves a linguistic definition problem of "tense": What exactly is tense?

Ir+a+inf. just uses a verbal periphrasis in Present Indicative to realize language expression regarding the future. In other words, it realizes the language function of the "Future Tense" in actual linguistic meaning, but in grammatical form, it is still Present Indicative, no different from other verbal periphrases in the table in terms of grammatical form. This is the difference between Morphology vs Function in language.

Simply put, ir+a+inf. is a "tense" in the functional sense, not a "tense" in the morphological sense.

Notice that the "End" column in the table above is the mirrored version of the ir+a+inf. structure in time. From the perspective of "Functional Tense vs Morphological Tense", it can be considered that the grammatical structure of the "End" column is actually the "Perfect Tense" in the functional sense. These three groups of words (acabar de, dejar de, terminar de) are called "Perfective Aspect" in academic terms — their function is to put a full stop to the action. This is also why this tutorial does not specifically teach the Present Perfect based on conjugation: it can be completely replaced by the Simple Past and Verbal Periphrasis Perfective Aspect.

If we analyze deeper, the Simple Future based on verb conjugation is a grammar of inflectional language, while ir+a+inf. (and all verbal periphrases in the table except progressive tense) is a grammar of analytic language. If viewed from this level, then ir+a+inf. represents the "Future Tense" of analytic language. Because the learning threshold of analytic grammar is lower and more "populist", "analytization" is also the trend of Spanish grammatical development. Ir+a+inf. has almost become the default "Future Tense" in spoken language (especially in Latin America), largely replacing the "Simple Future" of inflectional grammar. In current spoken Spanish, "Simple Future" is already somewhat like archaic formal language.