The future is now! Well, at least it is in our Arabic lesson for today.
So far you’ve learned about how to conjugate verbs in the Past and Present Arabic verb tenses, so it’s only natural that we look ahead to the future. In Arabic, the future means anything that happens after the time of speaking. It could be in an hour, a week, or a year.
For now, however, we’ll get started right this minute on how to use the prefixes for “will” and “going to” in Arabic to talk about your future plans.
So, let’s get started, shall we?
In Arabic, the future form of the verb is the same as it in the present tense, only with the prefix (سـ) added to the verb, like so:
سَأَذهَبُ
/sa’aTHhabu/
I will go
To conjugate in the 1st person singular, the prefix (سـ) is added to the present tense verb. For example:
أنا سَأذْهَبُ
/’anaa sa’aTHhabu/
I will go.
The same is true of the 1st person plural – simply add the prefix (سـ) to the present tense of the verb:
نَحْنُ سَنَذهَبُ إلى السُّوق
/naHnu sanaTHhabu ’ilaa issooq/
We will go to the market.
أَنا سَأرْجِعُ
/’anaa sa’arjiʻu/
I will return.
نَحْنُ سَنَرْجِعُ
/naHnu sanarjiʻu/
We will return.
To conjugate in the 2nd person masculine singular, once again, we add the prefix (سـ) to the present tense verb, like so:
أَنْتَ سَتَذْهَبُ
/’anta sataTHhabu/
You will go. (m.)
Likewise, for the 2nd person feminine singular, you also simply add the prefix (سـ) to the present tense of the verb:
أنتِ سَتَذهَبينَ
/’anti sataTHhabeena/
You will go. (f.)
A few more examples are:
أَنْتَ سَتَشْرَبُ
/’anta satashrabu/
You will drink. (m.)
أنْتِ سَتَشْرِبينَ
/’anti satashrabeena/
You will drink. (f.)
أَنْتَ سَتأكُلُ
/’anta sata’kulu/
You will eat. (m.)
أَنْتِ سَتأْكُلينَ
/’anti sata’kuleena/
You will drink. (f.)
To conjugate in the 3rd person masculine singular, once again, we add the prefix (سـ) to the present tense verb, like so:
هُوَ سَيَذهَبُ
/huwa sayaTHhabu/
He will go. (m.)
And again, for the 3rd person feminine singular, we add the prefix (سـ) to the present tense of the verb, as in:
هِيَ سَتَذْهَبُ
/hiya sataTHhabu/
She will go. (f.)
And once again, here are some more examples:
هُوَ سَيَرْجِعُ إلى
/huwa sayarji‘u ’ilaa …/
He will go back to…. (m.)
هِيَ سَتَرْجِعُ إلى
/hiya satarji‘u ’ilaa …/
She will go back to…. (f.)
هُوَ سَيَشْرَبُ
/huwa sayashrabu/
He will drink. (m.)
هِيَ سَتَشرَبُ
/hiya satashrabu/
She will drink. (f.)
Of course, sometimes in Arabic, you’ll have to say you or somebody else will NOT do something; however, that’s pretty easy in Arabic, too.
In Arabic the word for “will not” is لن / lan. Use it as follows:
لَنْ أَشْرَبَ القَهْوَةَ غَدًا
/lan ’ashraba ilqahwata ghadan/
I will not drink coffee tomorrow.
So, there you have it. Now you can make future plans in Arabic and tell somebody what you will and won’t do in the future.
What we hope you will do in the future, however, is learn more Arabic with the Kaleela Arabic language learning app. After all, learning Arabic the right way has never been easier than it is today with the Kaleela Arabic language learning app. Whether you’re learning Arabic for business or pleasure, let Kaleela guide you through the language with its simple, yet fun and easy-to-use lessons that let you learn at your own pace anytime, anywhere. For more information on how you can download the Kaleela app today and be speaking Arabic by tomorrow, visit our website today at kaleela.com.
Watch the full video about the future tense here
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