Spanish Future & Plans: voy a…, viajaré, talking about what's next

Three lessons on the two futures Spanish actually uses, the irregular stems, and the everyday language of inviting, agreeing and fixing a time.

Quick answer. In everyday Latin American Spanish the future is usually ir a + infinitive: voy a llamar, vamos a comer a las dos. The simple future (llamaré, comeremos) is correct too but sounds firmer or more formal, so it turns up in promises, predictions and writing, and very often for guessing about the present (¿qué hora será?, I wonder what time it is). For fixed plans, the plain present also works: mañana trabajo.

Spanish future: ir a vs. the simple future
Use	Form	Example
Plans and intentions	ir a + infinitive	Voy a cenar con mis papás.
Something about to happen	ir a + infinitive	Va a llover.
Scheduled or agreed plan	Present	El tren sale a las nueve.
Promise	Simple future	Te llamaré, te lo prometo.
Prediction (formal or written)	Simple future	Mañana hará calor en todo el país.
Guess about the present	Simple future	¿Dónde estará mi celular?
Irregular stems	Simple future	tendré, haré, podré, saldré, diré, vendré

Spanish has two ways to talk about the future and uses them differently from English. Ir a + infinitive (voy a salir, vamos a comer) is the everyday one, especially in Latin America, and covers almost everything "going to" and "will" cover in speech. The simple future (viajaré, comerás, vivirán) is built on the infinitive plus one set of endings, has the same twelve irregular stems as the conditional (tendré, haré, podré, saldré, diré), and is used for promises, predictions and (often) for guessing about the present: ¿dónde estará? means "where can she be?", not "where will she be".

The common learner problems are using the simple future everywhere because it is what the textbook drilled, which sounds oddly formal in conversation; forgetting the a in voy a; and stumbling over the practical language of actually making a plan: ¿te parece bien a las siete?, quedamos en la entrada, te aviso si llego tarde: which is where the future tense meets days, times and a bit of negotiation.

The three lessons below cover ir a, the simple future and the plan-making phrases, with exercises for each. Then the AI tutor's "Hacer planes" scenario has you invite someone out, handle a clash and fix a time, with every message scored 0–100 and corrected. Because the AI times your replies, you also learn to produce voy a sentences at the speed a real invitation requires, and recurring slips are tracked in your Error Bank and brought back with spaced repetition.

What's in this course

Voy a + infinitive, The everyday future, 'going to'
The simple future, viajaré, tendré, will + irregulars
Making plans, Invitations, suggestions, yes & no

Each lesson below is the same material used inside the Juntos app, with two of its exercises to try. In the app every lesson has the full exercise set, and the AI tutor grades your conversation practice against what you have learned.

Lesson 1: Voy a + infinitive

The everyday future, 'going to'

The future you'll use 90% of the time 🚌

ir (conjugated) + a + infinitive: exactly like English "going to":

Voy a viajar a Honduras. I'm going to travel to Honduras.
¿Qué vas a hacer mañana? What are you going to do tomorrow?
Vamos a comer a las dos. We're going to eat at two.

Time words that go with it: mañana, esta noche, la próxima semana, el mes que viene (next month), pronto (soon).

Try it

Mañana ___ a visitar las ruinas. (yo)

Tomorrow I'm going to visit the ruins.

Show answer

voy · yo → voy a visitar.

¿Qué ___ hacer este fin de semana?

What are you going to do this weekend?

vas a
vas
va a

Show answer

vas a · tú → vas A hacer, don't drop the a!

Lesson 2: The simple future

viajaré, tendré, will + irregulars

Crystal-ball tense 🔮

Whole infinitive + -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -án:

	viajar
yo	viajaré
tú	viajarás
él/ella	viajará
nosotros	viajaremos
ellos	viajarán

Same 12 irregular stems as the conditional: tendré, haré, podré, saldré, diré, habrá (there will be).

Feel: voy a viajar = concrete plan. Viajaré = prediction/promise: Algún día hablaré español perfectamente.

Try it

Algún día ___ (hablar, yo) español con fluidez.

Some day I'll speak Spanish fluently.

Show answer

hablaré · hablar + é → hablaré.

Mañana ___ sol, según el pronóstico.

Tomorrow it'll be sunny, according to the forecast.

hará
hacerá
hace

Show answer

hará · hacer → har-: hará sol.

Lesson 3: Making plans

Invitations, suggestions, yes & no

Social calendar Spanish 📅

Invite: ¿Quieres ir al cine? · ¿Te gustaría cenar con nosotros?
Suggest: ¿Por qué no vamos a la playa? · ¡Vamos! (let's go!)
Accept: ¡Claro que sí! · ¡Me encantaría! (I'd love to) · Dale. (LatAm "sure!")
Decline politely: Me gustaría, pero no puedo, tal vez otro día.
Nail it down: ¿Dónde quedamos? (where do we meet?) · Quedamos a las ocho.

Try it

¿___ ir al cine esta noche?

Do you want to go to the movies tonight?

Quieres
Quieras
Querer

Show answer

Quieres · Direct invitation → ¿Quieres…?

'I'd love to!' =

¡Me gusto!
¡Me encantaría!
¡Encantado más!

Show answer

¡Me encantaría! · me encantaría = I would love to.

This course is free. Want it graded in conversation?

Future & Plans is free on Juntos, with the games and your Error Bank. Start a 7-day trial to add the AI tutor that grades every sentence you write or say, voice calls and the 12-track program. Then $8/month, no card to start.

Start your free trial →

Questions people ask

Voy a or the future tense: which should I use?

In conversation, voy a plus an infinitive is the safe default and the more common choice in Latin America. Use the simple future to sound firm or formal (lo haré) or to make a guess (estará en casa).

Why does 'será' sometimes mean 'probably is'?

The simple future is used to guess about the present: ¿quién será? means 'who could that be?', and serán las cinco means 'it must be about five'.

What are the irregular future tense verbs in Spanish?

The common ones are tener (tendré), salir (saldré), venir (vendré), poner (pondré), poder (podré), saber (sabré), querer (querré), haber (habrá), hacer (haré) and decir (diré). The endings stay regular: -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -án.

Is 'voy a ir' correct Spanish?

Yes. Voy a ir (I'm going to go) is completely natural: voy a ir al cine el sábado. Just don't drop the a: voy ir is a common learner mistake.

Can you use the present tense for the future in Spanish?

Yes, for scheduled or agreed plans, usually with a time word: mañana te llamo, el vuelo sale a las seis. In Mexico, mañana te llamo often sounds more natural than te llamaré.