As we’ve touched on, when expressing something that will happen in the future, in Italian the present tense is frequently used. If you’re referring to an event or an action that will occur in the future and that is planned or scheduled with some degree of certainty, you should use the present tense.
The future tense is, however, necessary in the following three situations:
| Questo fine settimana arriva mia nonna dalla Sicilia. This weekend my grandma arrives from Sicily. Io e Chiara andiamo in Grecia domani. Chiara and I are going to Greece tomorrow. Prendi il treno o l’autobus? Are you taking the train or the bus? |
The future tense is, however, necessary in the following three situations:
- To talk about future events that are unplanned, uncertain or perceived as far removed in time.
Mio padre andrà in pensione tra qualche anno.
My father will retire in a couple of years.
Tornerò appena possibile!
I’ll come back as soon as possible!
Un giorno partiremo insieme.
One day we’ll leave together. - To speculate about present events or conditions
A quest’ora? Il bimbo dormirà.
At this time? The baby will be sleeping.
Non parlerai sul serio!
You can’t be serious!
Claudio avrà quasi cinquant’anni.
Claudio must be almost fifty years old.
Saranno le otto.
It must be eight o’clock. - To express future events following conjunctions such as se, quando, and (non) appena.
In English, these are called predictive conditional sentences and the present tense is used in the if-clause and the future is often used in the main clause. In Italian this is known as the future probability (il futuro di probabilità) and the future tense is used in both the if-clause and the main clause.Se berrai tutto quel vino, non sarai capace di guidare.
If you drink all that wine, you won’t be able to drive.
Quando arriverà in città, sarà stanca.
When she gets to town, she will be tired.
Appena mi darai i documenti, li porterò al presidente.
As soon as you give me the documents, I will bring them to the president.