The Future Tense in Arabic

Arabic has no separate future verb. To talk about the future, it puts a short prefix in front of the present tense: ⁨سَـ⁩ (will). ⁨أَكْتُب⁩ means "I write", and ⁨سَأَكْتُب⁩ means "I will write".

The Prefix ⁨سَـ⁩

Take the present tense verb and add ⁨سَـ⁩ to the front. It is always written together with the verb as one word, never on its own. The rest of the verb does not change, so if you know the present tense, you already know the future.

The Longer Word ⁨سَوْفَ⁩

⁨سَوْفَ⁩ means the same as ⁨سَـ⁩, but it is a separate word that stands before the present verb. Older grammar books say that ⁨سَوْفَ⁩ points further into the future. In modern Arabic the two are mostly interchangeable, and ⁨سَوْفَ⁩ often sounds a little more formal or more certain.

Time Words for the Future

A future sentence often has a time word. ⁨غَدًا⁩ (tomorrow) and ⁨بَعْدَ⁩ (after, in) never change. ⁨الْقَادِم⁩ (next, coming) comes after its noun and agrees with it: it becomes ⁨الْقَادِمَة⁩ after a feminine noun such as ⁨السَّنَة⁩.

Saying "Will Not" with ⁨لَنْ⁩

To say "will not", drop ⁨سَـ⁩ or ⁨سَوْفَ⁩ and put ⁨لَنْ⁩ before the present verb. ⁨لَنْ⁩ also changes some endings: the ⁨ن⁩ of ⁨ـون⁩ and ⁨ـين⁩ falls away, so ⁨يَذْهَبُون⁩ becomes ⁨لَنْ يَذْهَبُوا⁩ and ⁨تَذْهَبِين⁩ becomes ⁨لَنْ تَذْهَبِي⁩. In careful Arabic the other forms end in a short a (⁨لَنْ أَذْهَبَ⁩), but in speech and in this course that vowel is not pronounced.

"To Be" in the Future

A sentence without a verb, like ⁨الْجَوّ جَمِيل⁩ (the weather is nice), needs the verb ⁨يَكُون⁩ in the future: ⁨سَيَكُون الْجَوّ جَمِيلًا غَدًا⁩ (the weather will be nice tomorrow). After ⁨يَكُون⁩ the adjective takes the ending ⁨ـًا⁩.

Common Mistakes

• Writing ⁨سَـ⁩ as a separate word: say ⁨سَأَكْتُب⁩, not ⁨سَ أَكْتُب⁩.
• Putting ⁨سَـ⁩ on a past verb: say ⁨سَأَذْهَب⁩, not ⁨سَذَهَبْتُ⁩.
• Using ⁨سَـ⁩ and ⁨سَوْفَ⁩ together: say ⁨سَوْفَ أَذْهَب⁩ or ⁨سَأَذْهَب⁩, not ⁨سَوْفَ سَأَذْهَب⁩.
• Keeping ⁨سَـ⁩ after ⁨لَنْ⁩: say ⁨لَنْ أَذْهَب⁩, not ⁨لَنْ سَأَذْهَب⁩.
• Keeping the ⁨ن⁩ after ⁨لَنْ⁩: say ⁨لَنْ يَذْهَبُوا⁩, not ⁨لَنْ يَذْهَبُون⁩.
• Forgetting the feminine of ⁨الْقَادِم⁩: say ⁨السَّنَة الْقَادِمَة⁩, not ⁨السَّنَة الْقَادِم⁩.

Example Sentences