# FR: présent / futur - using the present to express the future



## bassoonery

I'm no longer studying French but am trying to keep it up in my own time as much as possible. I am familiar with the common future tense forms: je vais aller, j'irai etc and the conditional. These have approximate equivalents in the English: I am going to go, I will go etc. So far, so good.

However, it occured to me that there is another informal way of expressing the future in English, by using the gerund or present form of the verb, allowing the context to indicate the timeframe.

For example:

I *am working* tonight.
I *am* away all next week.

I know these are not exactly standard grammatical forms but they are certainly common and I wouldn't think twice about using such phrases. Do they have an equivalent in French (using the present forms) or is French limited to the "taught" future tenses I referred to above?

Thanks!

*Moderator note: *multiple threads merged to create this one


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## catver

there's no problem in using the present tense in your sentences, as long as you indicate the time locator, just like in English
Je *travaille* ce soir
Je *suis* absent toute la semaine prochaine

I'd like to add that it would be really weird to use the future in the 1st sentence; like, you wouldn't really say "je ne *travaillerai* pas ce soir", whereas " je *serai* absent toute la semaine prochaine" is fine.


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## Pipsy

Yes, the "je serai absent/e" is better than the first one... makes more snse to my eyes


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## bassoonery

catver said:


> it would be really weird to use the future in the 1st sentence; like, you wouldn't really say "je ne *travaillerai* pas ce soir", whereas " je *serai* absent toute la semaine prochaine" is fine.


 Oh I see, so for the first sentence it is actually better to use the present tense. But how do I know when I should use either? Is there a rule or is it instinctive?


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## Pipsy

It's about how far into the future you're referring to. Tonight is pretty imminent, hence you would use the present tense, whereas next week is (relatively) far away so it's the future tense.


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## givemeabeach

I'm editing website entries that list upcoming events for a French organization. They've all been written in English, but by French speakers. I'm  having a problem explaining why we can't use the present tense very often in these entries, as their policy is to put them all in the present - and so they keep "correcting" the texts I return to them.

For example, in writing about an upcoming exhibition, the French says "Elle est inaugurée le 22 decembre 2008" but I want to put "will be inaugurated"

I don't have many of the French texts, but the English contains entries such as the following (about an upcoming, not-recurring, meeting) "During this session participants discuss the values and management arrangements for ... . They are presented case studies of existing ... "

Would the present tense really be correct in French in these examples? Does anyone have a suggestion as to how I can explain to French people why the present tense might be possible in French here but not in English?


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## Maître Capello

The present tense is also incorrect in French…

_Elle est inaugurée le 22 décembre 2008. 
Elle *sera* inaugurée le 22 décembre 2008. _

 As a workaround, you may want to avoid using verbs by using nouns instead, e.g.:

_Inauguration le 22 décembre 2008.
Discussion about the values…_

Note: In French, the present tense can sometimes be used for *near* future events, e.g., _Je vais à la piscine cet après-midi_.


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## givemeabeach

Thanks Maitre,

It's interesting that the French is incorrect too. But I'm not really comfortable about leaving verbs out in the English form too often (maybe once in a while) unless it was a bulleted list.


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## Montaigne

Le présent est parfaitement admissible si l'on décrit le déroulement d'un événement futur 
"Durant cette session qui débutera le 22 décembre, les participants discutent des valeurs....". Le rituel est fixé et ce présent l'indique.


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## givemeabeach

Thanks, but I don't understand what you mean by "le rituel" - to me that would imply a repeated event, a situation where in English too the present is fine: "at Thanksgiving we all eat too much and then have a nap". But the meeting is a one-off event.


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## Montaigne

Yes it's a repeated event, a seminar I gather, with carefully outlined steps participants have to go through.


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## givemeabeach

I agree, it reads as if it's a repeated event, but that is because the description was written by a French speaker. In fact, it is a one-off event.


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## Montaigne

OK but present tense still works if the event follows a plan that can be described in advance.


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## givemeabeach

Montaigne said:


> OK but present tense still works if the event follows a plan that can be described in advance.



That's my problem. It _doesn't_ in English, but my French speakers think it does.  I assume from this that in French, as you put it, the present tense would be correct for a future, one-off, event if it "follows a plan that can be described in advance" ?


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## Montaigne

Let's say you're going to get married in June next year and I am preparing you for this wedding which is a one-off (it's YOURS) and I say " Then the priest asks if you swear................, and you answer YES."
A one-off but a ritual, would you find present inappropriate?


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## Fred_C

Montaigne said:


> Le présent est parfaitement admissible si l'on décrit le déroulement d'un événement futur
> "Durant cette session qui débutera le 22 décembre, les participants discutent des valeurs....". Le rituel est fixé et ce présent l'indique.


 
This is not universal, I am afraid...
No matter how I keep repeating this sentence, it just sounds wrong to me.
The future sounds more logic.


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## givemeabeach

Yes, that is because the ceremony ALWAYS follows that procedure - it is a ritual, I agree. A wedding is not a one-off event, as weddings happen every day, no matter how special it feels to each bride and groom. An election is not a one-off event either. An election with a black candidate for Pres of the US isn't even a one-off event, as it is likely to happen again. 

But this meeting is a one-off event, it will follow a predetermined procedure only in the sense that a bunch of people have got together and predetermined it. There is no precedent, nor any plan to make this the first of an ongoing series.

Oop, sorry Fred, my last post was a response to Montaigne - we crossed. I'll try to be more clear in future.


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## Maître Capello

Fred_C said:


> This is not universal, I am afraid...
> No matter how I keep repeating this sentence, it just sounds wrong to me.
> The future sounds more logic.


I have to agree with Fred. The present only makes sense (in both French and English) if the event is a recurring one…


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## givemeabeach

Maître Capello said:


> I have to agree with Fred. The present only make sense (in both French and English) if the event is a recurring one…



Then it seems I'm back where I began. When I used this argument to justify using the future, the response from the French end was that using the present tense was their policy. I guess they're just mistaken in French and want the English text to perpetuate the error in the name of consistency.

Thanks for all your help everyone though. Now to face another battle.


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## Montaigne

Sorry, MY wedding is not a one-off, it's MINE even if weddings happen everyday!
The ritual is that of the ceremony in general but the wedding is mine.
But I surrender if you know for sure that this event is not to be continued.


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## cocomax

Pour moi, en français, le présent utilise a la place du futur, me parait tout fait courant, a l'oral en tous cas (ou  j'ai même l'impression en de n'utiliser presque exclusivement que le présent)

_Tu fais quoi demain ? Je regarde le tennis
Tu fois quoi cet hiver ? Je pars au ski._

Ce qui m'a effectivement pose problème en arrivant en angleterre ou j'ai réalise que ce présent était en fait un futur (un future proche lointain, en quelque sorte) et qui se traduit par un futur en anglais.

Je me rappelle aussi avoir eu cette discussion avec un ami français qui ne comprenait pas pourquoi quand il disait (a la fin d'une réunion de travail avec des anglais)
-_ we do that _ 
au lieu de 
_- we shall do that, then
_personne ne comprenait ce qu'il voulait dire ...


Donc a mon avis c'est bien un futur que tu dois utiliser , mais c'est dur a expliquer a des francais ;-)


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## john_riemann_soong

My hypothesis was that it was a hypercorrection.


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## Prince Fujy

Est-ce qu'on emploie le present pour une action futur dans le langage courant beaucoup plus que le futur simple ou le futur proche?
Ex: Je rentre l'annee prochaine. Je  rentrerai l'annee prochaine. Je vais rentrer l'annee prochaine.


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## LILOIA

The three are correct. Without context I would prefer the first one. As usual, the context makes the difference.


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## Schmorgluck

C'est en effet assez fréquent, au point que ce n'est même pas considéré comme un abus de langage, sauf peut-être dans des contextes très formels. Du moment qu'il y a un complément de temps, en tout cas.


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## brainstrain

Hi,

I would like to know if both form are correct for business/work in replying to someone's question:

XXX "aimerait savoir si vous êtes disponibles" le {some future date} 

1. Je suis disponible le {some future date} - 
2. Je serai disponible le {some future date} - 

ie. I am, versus, I will be, available on {some future date}.

Would it be correct to presume that the 1st form is suited to answer the question since it is using the same tense?

Thank you


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## Maître Capello

In that sentence the present would be possible but it would sound colloquial. In other words, even if the question is asked using the present, I would use the future for the reply.


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## L'Inconnu

givemeabeach said:


> I'm editing website entries that list  upcoming events for a French organization. They've all been written in  English, but by French speakers. I'm  having a problem explaining why we  can't use the present tense very often in these entries, as their  policy is to put them all in the present - and so they keep "correcting"  the texts I return to them. Does anyone have a suggestion as to how I  can explain to French people why the present tense might be possible in  French here but not in English?



It seems to me that there  are two interrelated concepts at play here. (1) What you will do in the  future, and (2) What you will do when given instructions. Perhaps they  will 'gravitate' to the latter one. 

''Moi, je suis le rédacteur là. On *suivra* mes conseils.''


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## requinology

Bonjour à tous!! 

J'ai une question qui m'énnerve longtemps. In French, I keep seeing/hearing phrases that use present tense where in English we would always use future. In French, though, the tenses seem often interchangeable.

For example, at the end of the letter:

_Je vous tiens au courant/Je vous tiendrai au courant_ - I'll keep you updated

Finishing a phone call:

_Je vous rappelle/Je vous rappellerai_ - I'll call you back

Similarly:

_Je reviens vers vous/Je reviendrai vers vous_ - I'll get back to you
_Je vous envoie un message/Je vous enverrai un message_ - I'll send you a message
_Je le fais maintenant/Je le ferai maintenant_ - I'll do it now

So I'd like to ask, am I just being exposed to grammatically incorrect French or is there some kind of logic/rule to this? Do all of the above sound OK to native French speakers?

Anny explanations would be much appreciated! Merci d'avance


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## Samarcande

Hello requinology,

All your examples are grammatically correct and sounds ok to me, excepted "_Je le ferai maintenant_" since you can't use the future and _maintenant_ in the same sentence.
The present tense implies (in my opinion) that you have to do it in the next few seconds/minutes.
If you say "_Je vous rappelle_", you have to call back in the next few minutes after finishing the phone call. 
If you say "_Je vous rappellerai_", you can call back when you want (3 hours after, the next day, etc).

My English is not that great so I hope you understand what I mean.


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## geostan

I think you would be safer using the future in your examples. But without more context, it is difficult to be certain.

Samarcande,

Why can you not use maintenant and the future in the same sentence. It's perfectly natural in English.  I know that that is not necessarily a justification for doing so in French, but the logic would appear to be the same in both languages.


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## Samarcande

Hello geostan,

Well I might be wrong but I've just never heard a sentence with a verb in the future and the word "maintenant". If you're going to do something now, you can either say "je le fais maintenant" or "je vais le faire maintenant" but not (imo) "je le ferai maintenant". The future necessarily implies you'll do it later.


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## requinology

Samarcande said:


> The present tense implies (in my opinion) that you have to do it in the next few seconds/minutes.
> If you say "_Je vous rappelle_", you have to call back in the next few minutes after finishing the phone call.
> If you say "_Je vous rappellerai_", you can call back when you want (3 hours after, the next day, etc).
> 
> My English is not that great so I hope you understand what I mean.



Thanks Samarcande, your English is perfect  In fact that is just what I was thinking; I have noticed when people use the present tense in these situations there seems to be greater urgency implied. Like, you might say '_je vous rappelle!_' to someone when you need to quickly take another call coming through or something.

It's just difficult to know which to use sometimes; if you say you'll keep someone updated, how urgent is it? I think the future tense, like geostan pointed out, is probably a safer bet.


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## Maître Capello

Samarcande said:


> The present tense implies (in my opinion) that you have to do it in the next few seconds/minutes.
> If you say "_Je vous rappelle_", you have to call back in the next few minutes after finishing the phone call.


I disagree. You can also use the present to refer to a much later future. The nearness of that future is indeed quite subjective.

_Je vous rappelle la semaine prochaine._ 


geostan said:


> Why can you not use maintenant and the future in the same sentence. It's perfectly natural in English.  I know that that is not necessarily a justification for doing so in French, but the logic would appear to be the same in both languages.


I agree with Samarcande. In French you may only use the present or near future with _maintenant_.

I'll do it now. → _Je le fais maintenant. / Je vais le faire maintenant._


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## requinology

Thanks for your response MD. So to clarify, you think there is zero difference between _Je vous rappelle/rappellerai la semaine prochaine_? Is there a preference in spoken/written, formal/informal etc? Which is more common?


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## Maître Capello

In writing, you should stick to the future, but in everyday language, the present is probably a bit more common in that example, although the future is equally natural.


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