Meanings
nounfuture tense (plural future tenses)
plural future tenses
- grammarThe tense or time form of a verb used to refer to an event or occurrence that has not yet happened or is expected to happen in the future.
The future tense came into being as the verbs sculan and willan lost their ancient power as finite verbs and turned into future auxiliaries.
1985, Robert Burchfield, The English Language, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 157
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Afrikaans toekomende tyd
- toekomende tydtime form of a verb
Arabic مُسْتَقْبَل
- مُسْتَقْبَل (mustaqbal)time form of a verb
Bengali ভবিষ্যৎ কাল
- ভবিষ্যৎ কাল (bhobiśśot kal)time form of a verb
Bulgarian бъ́деще вре́ме
- бъ́деще вре́ме (bắdešte vréme)time form of a verb
Catalan futur
- futurtime form of a verb
Chinese Mandarin 將來時態 /将来时态, 將來時制 /将来时制
- 將來時態 /将来时态 (jiānglái shítài)time form of a verb
- 將來時制 /将来时制 (jiānglái shízhì)time form of a verb
- 將來時 /将来时 (jiāngláishí)time form of a verb
Czech budoucí čas
- budoucí častime form of a verb
Danish fremtid, futurum
- fremtidtime form of a verb
- futurumtime form of a verb
Dutch toekomende tijd, onvoltooid toekomstige tijd
- toekomende tijdtime form of a verb
- onvoltooid toekomstige tijdtime form of a verb
- futurumtime form of a verb
Esperanto futuro
- futurotime form of a verb
Estonian tulevik
- tuleviktime form of a verb
Finnish futuuri, tuleva aika
- futuuritime form of a verb
- tuleva aikatime form of a verb
French futur, futur simple
- futurtime form of a verb
- futur simpletime form of a verb
German Futur, Zukunft
- Futurtime form of a verb
- Zukunfttime form of a verb
Greek μέλλοντας, μέλλων
- μέλλοντας (méllontas)time form of a verb
- μέλλων (méllon)time form of a verb
Hebrew עָתִיד
- עָתִיד (atíd)time form of a verb
Hindi भविष्यकाल, भविष्य
- भविष्यकाल (bhaviṣyakāl)time form of a verb
- भविष्य (bhaviṣya)time form of a verb
Hungarian jövő idő
- jövő időtime form of a verb
Indonesian kala mendatang
- kala mendatangtime form of a verb
Irish an aimsir fháistineach, fáistineach
- an aimsir fháistineachtime form of a verb
- fáistineachtime form of a verb
Italian futuro, futuro semplice
- futurotime form of a verb
- futuro semplicetime form of a verb
- futuro anterioretime form of a verb
Japanese 未来時制, 未来形
- 未来時制 (mirai jisei)time form of a verb
- 未来形 (miraikei)time form of a verb
- 未来 (mirai)time form of a verb
Korean 미래시제
- 미래시제 (miraesije)time form of a verb
Latin tempus futūrum, futūrum
- tempus futūrumtime form of a verb
- futūrumtime form of a verb
Latvian nākotnes laiks
- nākotnes laikstime form of a verb
Lithuanian būsimasis laikas
- būsimasis laikastime form of a verb
Malay kala kelak
- kala kelaktime form of a verb
Māori wāheke
- wāheketime form of a verb
Norwegian Bokmål futurum
- futurumtime form of a verb
Polish czas przyszły
- czas przyszłytime form of a verb
Portuguese futuro, futuro do presente
- futurotime form of a verb
- futuro do presentetime form of a verb
Romanian viitor, timp viitor
- viitortime form of a verb
- timp viitortime form of a verb
Russian бу́дущее вре́мя
- бу́дущее вре́мя (búduščeje vrémja)time form of a verb
Scottish Gaelic tràth teachdail
- tràth teachdailtime form of a verb
Slovak budúci čas
- budúci častime form of a verb
Spanish futuro, tiempo futuro
- futurotime form of a verb
- tiempo futurotime form of a verb
Swedish futurum
- futurumtime form of a verb
Tagalog panghinaharap, magaganap
- panghinaharaptime form of a verb
- magaganaptime form of a verb
Tamil எதிர்காலம்
- எதிர்காலம் (etirkālam)time form of a verb
Thai อนาคตกาล
- อนาคตกาล (à-naa-kót-dtà-gaan)time form of a verb
Turkish gelecek zaman
- gelecek zamantime form of a verb
Ukrainian майбу́тній час
- майбу́тній час (majbútnij čas)time form of a verb
Urdu مُسْتَقْبِل, اِسْتِقْبال
- مُسْتَقْبِل (mustaqbil)time form of a verb
- اِسْتِقْبال (istiqbāl)time form of a verb
Vietnamese thì tương lai
- thì tương laitime form of a verb
Cite this entry
APA
future tense. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/future%20tense
MLA
“future tense.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/future%20tense. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “future tense,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/future%20tense.
Source: future tense on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.