Talking about the future - Giving and seeking factual informatio - Functions - A Practical Guide - Modern Italian Grammar

Modern Italian Grammar: A Practical Guide, Third Edition (2013)

Part B. Functions

I. Giving and seeking factual informatio

14. Talking about the future

14.1 Introduction

Learners often assume that in order to talk about future events, actions or situations, they need to use the future tense of Italian verbs (see 2.2.9). This is not always the case. As seen in the following examples, you can use either the future tense or the present tense, to refer to the same event or facts. Finally, to talk about the very near future in Italian, we can use the construction stare per.

14.2 Using the future tense

In the examples below, the future tense of the verbs is used to imply firm intention or plans or a future event which is certain:

Fra pochi giorni sarò in Italia.

In a few days I'll be in Italy.

Spero che tu non cambierai idea.

I hope you won't change your mind.

La settimana prossima mio marito partirà per gli Stati Uniti.

Next week my husband will leave for the USA.

Arriveremo non appena possible.

We'll get there as soon as possible.

14.3 Using the present tense

The future tense is not always used or needed in colloquial Italian. The present tense can be used in its place in almost every situation, just as it can in English:

Fra poco sono a casa.

Soon I'll be home.

La settimana prossima cambi ufficio, vero?

Next week you are changing office, aren't you?

Domani mio marito parte per Genova.

Tomorrow my husband is leaving for Genoa.

Arriviamo alle dieci di sera.

We'll get there at ten o'clock at night.

Even events in the distant future can be expressed using the present tense. However an explicit indication which places the events firmly in the future (such as la settimana prossima, l'anno prossimo, fra un mese, etc.) helps to avoid misunderstanding, as in the following examples:

L'anno prossimo passiamo le vacanze a New York.

Next year we are spending the holidays in New York.

Fra un mese siamo in Italia.

In a month we'll be in Italy.

It is generally preferable to use the future tense when speaking or writing in a more formal context.

14.4 Indicators of future time

As mentioned above, markers of future time are important in order to set statements firmly in the future context. Here are some of the most common.

Domani ‘tomorrow’:

Domani porto Filippo dal pediatra.

Tomorrow I'm taking Filippo to the paediatrician.

Dopodomani ‘day after tomorrow’:

Dopodomani l'ufficio rimarrà chiuso.

The day after tomorrow the office will be closed.

Prossimo ‘next’:

Prossimo agrees in gender and number with the noun it refers to. Remember that the days of the week — with the exception of domenica — are masculine.

Prossimo generally comes after the noun, in phrases such as sabato prossimo ‘next Saturday’, la settimana prossima ‘next week’, il mese prossimo ‘next month’, l'anno prossimo ‘next year’. It can also come before but this is less common.

Le telefonerò il mese prossimo.

I'll phone you next month.

Domenica prossima andiamo al mare.

Next Sunday we'll go to the sea.

Prossimo generally comes before the noun in phrases such as nei prossimi giorni ‘over the next few days’, nei prossimi mesi ‘over the next few months’. It can also come after but this is less common.

Nei prossimi giorni cerco di pulire la casa.

In the next few days, I'll try and clean the house.

Dovremo lavorare molto nei prossimi mesi.

We'll be very busy in the next months.

Fra (tra) ‘within a certain time’:

The prepositions fra / tra are identical in meaning (see also 4.3.8).

Ci vediamo fra una settimana.

We'll see each other in a week.

Sandro deve partire tra poco.

Sandro has to leave in a moment.

Mi scusi, sono occupata. La richiamo fra cinque minuti.

Excuse me, I'm busy at the moment. I'll call you back in five minutes.

Entro ‘by, within’:

The preposition entro is used in a more formal context than fra, tra:

Il pagamento va effettuato entro un mese dalla data della fattura.

Payment must be made within a month from the date of the invoice.

Prima o poi ‘sooner or later’:

Prima o poi is a colloquial phrase referring to an unspecified future moment, rather than a definite point in time:

Prima o poi riusciranno a risolvere il problema.

Sooner or later they'll manage to solve the problem.

Verrò a trovarti, prima o poi!

I'll come to see you, sooner or later.

D'ora in poi ‘from now on’:

D'ora in poi non mi sentirò più sola. Ci sei tu.

From now on I won't feel lonely. You're here.

The next group of time markers alla fine, dopo, poi, stasera can refer to a present or past time context as well as a future time context, depending on the verb tense used.

Alla fine ‘at the end’:

Il vertice durerà cinque giorni; alla fine verrà offerto un pranzo dall'ambasciatore britannico.

The summit will last five days; at the end there will be a dinner offered by the British ambassador.

Dopo ‘after, afterwards, later’:

Andiamo a fare una passeggiata e dopo andiamo a casa tua.

Let's go for a walk and afterwards we'll go to your place.

Poi ‘then, later’:

Poi is often used in a pair with prima ‘first’. It is almost interchangeable with dopo:

Prima parleremo della riunione poi passeremo all'argomento principale.

First we'll talk about the meeting, then we'll go on to the main subject.

Stasera ‘this evening, tonight’:

Stasera si trasmetterà la prossima puntata diCommissario Montalbano’.

The next episode of ‘Inspector Montalbano’ will be shown this evening.

Presto ‘soon’:

Presto cambieremo casa.

We'll soon move house.

Le manderò presto una risposta.

I'll send an answer to you soon.

Presto can also mean ‘early’, in which case it can refer to present, past or future.

14.5 Expressing the immediate or very near future

There are two particular ways of talking about actions that are imminent or ‘about to happen’.

14.5.1 Stare per

The verb stare (see 2.2.3) is used with per and the verb infinitive:

Stiamo per partire.

We are about to leave.

La conferenza sta per cominciare.

The talk will begin soon.

14.5.2 Essere sul punto di

The expression essere sul punto di … corresponds approximately to the English ‘to be on the verge of …’:

Il professore è sul punto di avere un esaurimento nervosa.

The teacher is on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Attenzione! Il treno è sul punto di partire!

Attention! The train is just about to depart!

14.6 Expressing the English ‘going to’

The English ‘going to’ can be a way of expressing future plans or intention, or it can mean ‘physically going to’. You have to know which meaning it conveys before you can translate it into Italian.

In the first example, ‘going to’ expresses future plans or intention and is translated into Italian using a future tense or using aver intenzione di:

When I'm on holiday, I'm going to learn Italian.

Quando sarò in vacanza, imparerò l'italiano.

Quando sarò in vacanza, ho intenzione di imparare l'italiano.

In the second example, ‘going’ means physically going to a place and is translated into Italian using the verb andare:

Tomorrow I'm going shopping.

Domani vado a fare le spese.

For other ways to talk about future planning and intention, see 14.9 below.

14.7 The ‘past in the future’

The diagram below is intended to illustrate the ‘past in the future’. Sometimes when you talk about a point in the future (3), you need to describe events/actions that have not yet happened at the moment of speaking (1) but that will have happened at an unspecified point (2) before that future point (3).

1
(moment of speaking)

2
(action or event)

3
(future point)

image

I giornali dicono che il Governo avrà deciso il bilancio prima di agosto.

The newspapers say the Government will have decided on the budget before August.

Franco dice che avremo già finito il lavoro quando arriverà il contratto.

Franco says that we will have finished the work before the contract arrives.

This reference to the past in the future — often called the future perfect in English — is expressed in Italian by a tense called futuro anteriore ‘compound future’ (see 2.2.10). Here are some examples:

Domani l'ufficio chiuderà alle 12.00. A quell'ora avremo già finito la nostra relazione.

Tomorrow the office will close at 12.00. By then we'll already have finished our report.

È tardi. Quando arriveremo allo stadio, la partita sarà già iniziata.

It's late. When we reach the stadium, the match will already have started.

Potrai superare l'esame soltanto dopo che avrai migliorato il tuo italiano.

You will be able to pass the exam only after improving your Italian.

14.8 The future seen from the past

You do not just talk of future events with reference to the moment when you are speaking or writing (‘the present’). You may also be talking now about a point in the past, when the particular events referred to were still in the future. How you express this situation in Italian depends on the sequence of events and on the probability of their happening. You can use a variety of verb tenses and moods to do this (see also 30.5 and Appendix V).

14.8.1 Present or simple future tense

When the future moment has not yet come, and it is still possible for the action or event to take place, you can use either present or future tense:

Carlo ha detto che passerà più tardi.

Carlo said he will pass by later.

Carlo ha detto che passa più tardi.

Carlo said he will pass by later.

14.8.2 The condizionale passato ‘past conditional’

The past conditional (see 2.2.13) indicates the future from a past point of view. This tense is used after the moment has passed, regardless of whether Carlo came or not:

Carlo ha detto che sarebbe passato (ed è venuto).

Carlo said he would pass by later (and he did).

Carlo ha detto che sarebbe passato (e non è venuto).

Carlo said he would pass by later (and he didn't).

14.8.3 The imperfetto ‘imperfect’:

In colloquial Italian, the imperfect (see 2.2.4) is often used in place of the past conditional:

Carlo ha detto che passava più tardi.

Carlo said he would pass by later.

For more examples of putting events in a time context, and the sequence of tenses, see 30.5 and Appendix V.

14.9 Expressing intention and future plans

As seen above, the English ‘going to’ can be expressed in Italian by aver intenzione di:

Ho intenzione di noleggiare una macchina.

I intend hiring a car.

Other expressions of intention and planning for the future include:

aspettarsi

to expect

aver in progetto di

to have planned to

decidere di

to decide to

decidersi a

to make one's mind up to

desiderare

to wish, desire

fare progetti per

to make plans for

non vedere l'ora di

to not be able to wait for

promettere di

to promise to

sperare di

to hope to

Mi sono decisa a passare le feste natalizie in famiglia.

I've made up my mind to spend the Christmas celebrations with my family.

Gli studenti stanno facendo progetti per venire a studiare in Inghilterra.

The students are planning to come and study in England.

Il professore si aspetta di ricevere i nostri compiti domain.

The lecturer expects to receive our homework tomorrow.

I bambini non vedono l'ora di andare in vacanza.

The children can't wait to go on holiday.

► See also 26.2 and 33.3 for further expressions of intention and future plans.