How to Conjugate Verbs in the Future Tense in Portuguese (Easy Guide)

Want to talk about plans in Portuguese without getting lost in endless grammar charts? Good news: the future tense in Portuguese is way easier than it looks. Here in Brazil we use one simple pattern every single day, and with just four little words, "vou", "vai", "vão" and "vamos", you can talk about pretty much anything you're planning to do.

There are two main ways to conjugate verbs in the future in Portuguese. The near future in Portuguese is "ir" + infinitive, and it works just like "going to" in English: "eu vou jantar" (I'm going to have dinner). It's the one you'll hear in almost every conversation. The simple future in Portuguese, also called "futuro do presente", adds endings to the infinitive, as in "jantarei" (I will have dinner), and shows up mostly in formal writing, the news, and official texts.

In this guide I'll walk you through my 4 V's trick step by step, with a video, examples for every pronoun, and real sentences to practice, so you can use the Portuguese future tense the way we actually speak in Brazil.

Video: The trick for verbs in the future tense in Portuguese

The trick to conjugating verbs in the future tense in Portuguese is to use the verb "ir" + the infinitive, just like saying "I'm going to eat" in English. In this video I show you how we do it in Brazil every day, without memorizing complicated endings.

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Explanation: How to conjugate verbs in the future tense in Portuguese

Portuguese has two ways to conjugate the future: the near future ("vou jantar"), which is the one we use most in conversation, and the simple future ("jantarei"), which is more common in formal writing. Below I explain both with every pronoun and the same example verbs.

Future tense with the pronoun "Eu"

With "eu", the near future in Portuguese is "vou" + the infinitive: "eu vou jantar" (I'm going to have dinner). It's the form we use in Brazil all the time to talk about plans, from what you're doing today to what's happening next year.

Eu vou + infinitive verb

Informal: Eu vou "Jantar", "Lanchar", "Mergulhar", "Cozinhar", "Trocar"

Another way to conjugate (more formal). In this case, using "EU" is optional.

Infinitive verb + EI

The simple future in Portuguese, or "futuro do presente", is formed by adding "-ei" to the infinitive when you talk about yourself: "jantarei" (I will have dinner). It works a lot like "will" in English, but in Brazil we save it mostly for writing, the news, and formal situations.

• Jantarei hoje à noite (I'll have dinner tonight)
• Lancharei com um amigo mais tarde
• Mergulharei no fundo do mar no próximo mês
• Cozinharei hoje à tarde
• Trocarei meu carro muito em breve

Future tense with the pronouns "Ele, Ela, Você/Tu, A gente" (singular)

For "ele", "ela", "você", and "a gente", you use "vai" + the infinitive: "ela vai lanchar" (she's going to have a snack). In the simple future the ending is "-á", as in "lanchará". Heads up: even though "a gente" means "we", in Brazil we conjugate it like the third person singular, the same way as "ele" or "ela".

Ele, Ela, Você vai + infinitive verb

Informal: Ele, Ela, Você, A gente vai "jantar", "Lanchar", "Mergulhar", "Cozinhar", "Trocar"
Formal: Ele, Ela, Você, A gente "jantará", "Lanchará", "Mergulhará", "Cozinhará", "Trocará"

Future tense with the pronouns "Eles, Elas, Vocês" (plural)

In the plural, "eles", "elas", and "vocês" go with "vão" + the infinitive: "eles vão mergulhar" (they're going to dive). The simple future ends in "-ão", "mergulharão", which sounds a lot like the past tense ending "-am" (mergulharam). The difference is the stress: mergulharÃO is stressed on the last syllable, while mergulHAram is stressed on the one before it, so it's worth practicing your pronunciation.

Eles, Elas, Vocês vão + infinitive verb

Informal: Eles, Elas, Vocês vão "jantar", "Lanchar", "Mergulhar", "Cozinhar", "Trocar"
Formal: Eles, Elas, Vocês Jantarão, Lancharão, Mergulharão, Cozinharão, Trocarão.

Future tense with the pronoun "Nós" (plural)

With "nós", the near future is "vamos" + the infinitive: "nós vamos cozinhar" (we're going to cook). The simple future ends in "-emos": "cozinharemos" (we will cook). In everyday conversation in Brazil you'll also hear "a gente vai cozinhar" a lot, with the exact same meaning.

Informal: Nós vamos "jantar", "Lanchar", "Mergulhar", "Cozinhar", "Trocar"
Formal: "Jantaremos", "Lancharemos", "Mergulharemos", "Cozinharemos", "Trocaremos"

Learn the 4 "V's" to conjugate any Portuguese verb in the future tense

The 4 V's are "vou", "vai", "vão", and "vamos", the present tense forms of the verb "ir" (to go). Combine them with any infinitive and you get the near future in Portuguese, the most natural way to talk about the future in Brazil and the one I recommend mastering first.

Vou, Vai, Vão, Vamos + infinitive verb

• Eu vou jantar (jantarei)
• Ele, Ela, Você, Tu* (A GENTE) vai lanchar (lanchará)
• Eles vão mergulhar (mergulharão)
• Nós vamos cozinhar (cozinharemos)

* The textbook conjugation for the pronoun "Tu" in Portuguese would be "Tu jantas, lanchas, mergulhas, cozinhas, trocas", but in practice it's very common to see "Tu" conjugated as if it were "Você".

For example:

• Tu queres jantar? (grammatically correct form)
• Tu quer jantar? (a different conjugation we use a lot in Brazil)

Future subjunctive and irregular verbs

The simple future isn't always regular: verbs like "fazer", "dizer", and "trazer" change to "farei", "direi", and "trarei". And the future subjunctive ("quando eu for", "se você fizer") expresses conditions or possibilities. It's a different tense that deserves its own guide.

To round out your future tense conjugation, I recommend checking out these 2 posts.

• How to use "FOR" in Portuguese: IR and SER in the future subjunctive
• 20 irregular verbs in Portuguese you need to learn

Past tense conjugation (plural)

Pay attention when you pronounce the "AM" at the end of these verbs. It sounds very similar to "ÃO", a lot of learners mix them up, and that completely changes the meaning: one is past, the other is future.

Eles, Elas, Vocês ...

• Jantaram
• Lancharam
• Mergulharam
• Cozinharam
• Trocaram

Words to build sentences

Click each word to hear its pronunciation. Reading them syllable by syllable is a great way to improve your pronunciation.

• Campeão - Cam-pe-ão
• Grampo - Gram-po
• Cambalhota - Cam-ba-lho-ta
• Aptidão - Ap-ti-dão
• Irmão - Ir-mão

Verbs to build sentences

Click each verb to see its conjugation in every tense.

• Jantar - Jan-tar
• Lanchar - Lan-char
• Mergulhar - Mer-gu-lhar
• Cozinhar - Co-zi-nhar
• Trocar - Tro-car

Practice sentences

These sentences mix past and future tenses to train your ear: spot which verbs are in the simple future, like "trocarão" and "substituirão", and which are in the past, like "jantaram". Then try rewriting them with the 4 V's, for example "eles vão trocar".

• Ele foi o campeão, pra celebrar convidou vários amigos e todos eles jantaram no melhor restaurante da cidade.
• Eduardo foi lanchar com seu amigo e pra sua surpresa eles encontraram um grampo dentro do sanduíche.
• Antes de mergulhar na piscina eles deram uma cambalhota pra tentar impressionar todo mundo.
• Ela não conseguiu demonstrar sua aptidão no programa Master Chef ao tentar cozinhar seu prato favorito.
• O irmão dele falou que os estudantes trocarão de curso caso não estejam satisfeitos com os professores que substituirão os antigos.

Best Portuguese dictionaries

Whenever you come across a new word in Portuguese, look up its definition in Portuguese dictionaries. My advice is to avoid translating as much as possible. That way you connect new words to an explanation in Portuguese, which is exactly what we do in Brazil when we want to know what a word means in our own language.