Future tense

Spanish Irregular Future Tense Verbs

Mastering irregular future verbs is easier when you group them by pattern. This page focuses only on the 12 irregular future stems and the expressions built with them.

Two future pages, two different goals

Future Tense explains the complete system: regular formation, uses, examples and ways to talk about the future. This page is the focused reference for irregular stems such as tendr-, podr-, har- and dir-, plus high-frequency expressions that use them. To compare irregular patterns in the simple past, use the Irregular Preterite guide.

Quick overview

Most useful first

Start with haré, diré, tendré, podré, saldré, querré, vendré and habrá. Then add useful expressions such as valdrá la pena.

Do not change the endings

Future endings stay regular: -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án. Only the stem changes. See the Future Tense guide for the regular endings.

3rd person phrases

In common expressions, habrá and valdrá often appear in the 3rd person singular.

The 12 Essential Irregular Future Verbs

Most irregular future verbs follow one of only three stem-change patterns. The colored or crossed-out letters show exactly what changes; the future endings stay regular.

1. Drop the vowel

Drop the vowel before the final -r.

poder: drop the e podré
saber: drop the e sabré
haber: drop the e habrá 3rd person
querer: drop the e querré
caber: drop the e cabré

2. Add -dr-

Replace the vowel before the final -r with -d-.

tener: replace the e with d tendré
venir: replace the i with d vendré
poner: replace the e with d pondré
salir: replace the i with d saldré
valer: replace the e with d valdrá common phrase

3. Short irregular stems

hacer and decir use shortened stems that are best learned directly: har- and dir-.

hacer: drop ce haré
decir: drop ec diré

Quick endings

har- + é, ás, á, emos, éis, án

dir- + é, ás, á, emos, éis, án

The pattern often continues through a verb family

Once you know the irregular stem of a base verb, many related verbs keep the same future pattern. This is a useful shortcut, not a replacement for learning each verb in context.

tener → tendr-

mantener → mantendré

obtener → obtendré

poner → pondr-

proponer → propondré

componer → compondré

Explore the PONER family →

venir → vendr-

prevenir → prevendré

intervenir → intervendré

Useful 3rd-person patterns: habrá and valdrá

You can conjugate haber and valer in other forms, but habrá and valdrá la pena are especially common 3rd-person singular expressions. In the existential sense, habrá means “there will be”; forms such as habré are usually seen as auxiliaries in the future perfect, for example habré terminado.

Hay → Había → Habrá

  • hay: there is / there are
  • había: there was / there were
  • habrá: there will be

Vale la pena → Valdrá la pena

  • vale la pena: it is worth it
  • valió la pena: it was worth it
  • valdrá la pena: it will be worth it

Daily Expressions with Irregular Future Verbs

Learn these verbs through short sentences. These examples are more useful than memorizing a long chart without context.

No podré venir hoy.
I won’t be able to come today.
Tendré más tiempo mañana.
I will have more time tomorrow.
Te diré la verdad.
I will tell you the truth.
Lo haré mañana.
I’ll do it tomorrow.
Todo saldrá bien.
Everything will turn out fine.
Algún día lo sabrás.
Someday you will know.
Habrá mucha gente.
There will be many people.
No habrá excusas.
There will be no excuses.
Habrá que adaptarse.
We’ll have to adapt.
El esfuerzo valdrá la pena.
The effort will be worth it.
No querrás perderte esto.
You won’t want to miss this.
No cabrá en la maleta.
It won’t fit in the suitcase.

Quick Reference: 12 Irregular Future Verbs

The endings are regular. The stem is irregular.

Twelve essential Spanish irregular future tense verbs and stems
Infinitive Future stem Yo form Common 3rd-person form
poderpodr-podrépodrá
sabersabr-sabrésabrá
haberhabr-habréhabrá
quererquerr-querréquerrá
cabercabr-cabrécabrá
tenertendr-tendrétendrá
venirvendr-vendrévendrá
ponerpondr-pondrépondrá
salirsaldr-saldrésaldrá
valervaldr-valdrévaldrá
hacerhar-haréhará
decirdir-dirédirá