Olá, queridos alunos! (Hello, dear students!)
“Eu vou viajar” (I will travel), “Eu viajarei” (I will travel) or “Eu irei viajar” (I will travel)? Which form is correct?
The three forms are used in Brazil and have exactly the same meaning but are used in different situations.
In this lesson, I will explain everything you need to know to talk the future in Brazilian Portuguese.
This lesson consists of a video and a PDF with exercises for you to practice what you are about to learn. To make the most of what this lesson has to offer, fill out the form below to download your worksheet.
3 Ways to Talk About the Future in Portuguese
1. Eu vou viajar (I’m going to travel)
This construction is commonly called the “futuro imediato” (immediate future) or “futuro próximo” (near future).
The immediate future is formed by the verb “ir” (to go) in the present tense, “eu vou” (I’m going to) plus the infinitive form of the main verb, “viajar” (travel). In this case, the verb “ir” acts as an auxiliary verb. We need to conjugate the verb “ir,” but the main verb has to stay in the infinitive (uninflected).
For example:
Eu vou viajar ao Brasil no próximo ano. (I’m going to travel to Brazil next year.)
Você vai aprender português se fizer meus cursos. (You’re going to learn Portuguese if you take my courses.)
Nós vamos jantar com amigos hoje. (We’re going to have dinner with friends today.)
Eles vão começar um novo projeto amanhã. (They’re going to start a new project tomorrow.)
The immediate future is the most used form to talk about the future in Brazil, especially in colloquial, everyday language.
You can always use the immediate future and don’t need to use the other two forms that I will teach you in this lesson. But it’s important to understand all of them, as you will hear Brazilians using different constructions.
2. Eu viajarei (I will travel)
This verb tense is called the “futuro do presente” and is the official verb tense used to talk about the future. In other words, it’s the verb tense that you will find in grammar books.
The futuro do presente is not used a whole lot in colloquial language. It’s more common in written texts, such as news, articles, and formal emails. It can also be used in spoken language, but it sounds much more formal than the immediate future.
The futuro do presente form doesn’t include an auxiliary verb. The main verb must be conjugated.
For example:
Eu viajarei ao Brasil no próximo ano. (I will travel to Brazil next year.)
Você aprenderá português se fizer meus cursos. (You will learn Portuguese if you take my courses.)
Nós jantaremos com amigos hoje. (We will have dinner with friends today.)
Eles começarão um novo projeto amanhã. (They will begin a new project tomorrow.)
3. Eu irei viajar (I’m going to travel)
Here we have a form that combines the verb “ir” (to go) in the futuro do presente, “eu irei” (I’m going to) with the infinitive of the main verb, “viajar” (travel).
I don’t particularly use this construction because it’s not necessary, but many people do. It’s just a question of style. In my opinion, the construction “eu irei + verb” puts more emphasis on the auxiliary verb, “eu irei fazer tal coisa” (I will do such and such).
For example:
Eu irei viajar ao Brasil no próximo ano. (I’m going to travel to Brazil next year.)
Você irá aprender português se fizer meus cursos. (You’re going to learn Portuguese if you take my courses.)
Nós iremos jantar com amigos hoje. (We’re going to have dinner with friends today.)
Eles irão começar um novo projeto amanhã. (They’re going to start a new project tomorrow.)
Eu vou ir (I’m going to go)
Now I need to talk about an important detail related to the structure “eu vou ir” (I’m going to go).
This construction is perfectly correct according to grammar rules, but Brazilians don’t say “eu vou ir.” Why?
To Brazilian ears, it sounds strange to use the verb “ir” (to go) as the auxiliary and main verb. It sounds redundant.
So, to use the verb “ir” (to go) in the future, we need to use the futuro do presente, “eu irei” (I will go) or simply the present with the future meaning, “eu vou” (I’m going).
For example:
Eu vou ao parque amanhã. (I’m going to the park tomorrow.)
Eu irei ao parque amanhã. (I will go to the park tomorrow.)
Summary
So, to sum up, the three forms, “eu vou viajar,” “eu viajarei,” and “eu irei viajar” all have exactly the same meaning.
“Eu vou viajar” is the most common and most used form.
“Eu viajarei” is the form most used in writing and in formal contexts.
“Eu irei viajar” is the form used only for emphasis and style.
Free PDF!
To retain what we studied today, you need to keep practicing. I prepared a PDF with exercise to do just that. Fill out the form below to download your worksheet.
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Até a próxima!
Virginia & Speaking Brazilian Team
