Future Expressions

Overview of Future Expressions in Persian

In Persian there is no separate, fully inflected “future tense” in everyday speech. Instead, speakers usually talk about the future with the simple present, time adverbs, and some special expressions. In more formal styles there is also a specific future construction with the verb خواستن “to want.” In this chapter you will learn the main ways to express future meaning that are natural for intermediate level Persian.

Using the Simple Present for Future

The most frequent way to express future in Persian is the same simple present form that you already know, combined with a time expression such as “tomorrow,” “next week,” or “soon.”

Consider:

من فردا می‌رَم سرِ کار.
man fardâ miram sare kâr.
“I am going to work tomorrow.” / “I will go to work tomorrow.”

This is grammatically present, but the word فردا “tomorrow” gives it future meaning.

Here are more examples:

امشب فیلم می‌بینیم.
emšab film mibinim.
“We are watching a movie tonight.” / “We will watch a movie tonight.”

هفتهٔ دیگه می‌آم تهران.
hafte-ye dige miâm tehrân.
“I am coming to Tehran next week.” / “I will come to Tehran next week.”

ساعتِ هشت می‌رسه.
sâʿat-e hašt mirese.
“He arrives at eight.” / “He will arrive at eight.”

Notice that in English you might use “will,” “be going to,” or a present continuous. Persian simply uses simple present + a future time expression.

Common Future Time Expressions

To use the simple present for future, you need clear time words. Here are some of the most common ones that signal future time in everyday speech.

“Tomorrow” and “the day after tomorrow”:

فردا می‌بینمت.
fardâ mibinamet.
“I will see you tomorrow.”

پس‌فردا می‌ریم شمال.
pasfardâ mirim šomâl.
“The day after tomorrow we are going to the north.” / “We will go to the north the day after tomorrow.”

“Next week,” “next month,” “next year”:

هفتهٔ دیگه امتحان دارم.
hafte-ye dige emtehân dâram.
“I have an exam next week.” / “I will have an exam next week.”

ماهِ دیگه خونه عوض می‌کنیم.
mâh-e dige xune avaz mikonim.
“Next month we will change house.” / “We are moving house next month.”

سالِ دیگه می‌خوام فارسی‌م رو بهتر کنم.
sâl-e dige mixâm fârsim ro behtar konam.
“Next year I want to improve my Persian.”

“Soon,” “later,” “in a few minutes”:

زود برمی‌گردم.
zud barmigardam.
“I will be back soon.”

بعداً بهت زنگ می‌زنم.
baʿdan behet zang mizanam.
“I will call you later.”

چند دقیقهٔ دیگه حرکت می‌کنیم.
cand daqiqe-ye dige harekat mikonim.
“We will leave in a few minutes.”

“Tonight,” “this evening,” “tomorrow morning”:

امشب مهمون داریم.
emšab mehmun dârim.
“We have guests tonight.” / “We will have guests tonight.”

امروز عصر می‌ریم خرید.
emruz asr mirim xarid.
“This evening we will go shopping.”

فردا صبح می‌رم کلاس.
fardâ sobh miram kelâs.
“Tomorrow morning I will go to class.”

With these expressions, the simple present naturally gets a future meaning.

Scheduled and Timetabled Future

For fixed plans, timetables, and schedules, Persian again uses the simple present. This is very similar to English “The train leaves at 7.”

قطار ساعتِ هفت حرکت می‌کنه.
qatâr sâʿat-e haft harekat mikone.
“The train leaves at seven.” / “The train will leave at seven.”

کلاسِ فارسی ساعتِ دو شروع می‌شه.
kelâs-e fârsi sâʿat-e do šoruʿ mišé.
“The Persian class starts at two.”

فردا مغازه ساعتِ نه باز می‌شه.
fardâ maqâze sâʿat-e noh bâz mišé.
“Tomorrow the shop opens at nine.”

Even though the time is in the future, there is no special future form. It is always the simple present plus a time.

Intentions and “Going to”

Very often when we talk about the future we talk about our plans or intentions. Persian mostly uses verbs like “want,” “plan,” and “intend” in the present to give this meaning.

Using خواستن “to want”:

می‌خوام فردا استراحت کنم.
mixâm fardâ esterâhat konam.
“I am going to rest tomorrow.” / “I want to rest tomorrow.”

نمی‌خواد امسال مسافرت بره.
nemixâd emsâl mosâferat bere.
“He does not want to travel this year.” / “He is not going to travel this year.”

Using قصد داشتن “to intend, to plan”:

قصد دارم ترمِ بعد بیشتر درس بخونم.
qasd dâram terme baʿd bištar dars bexunam.
“I intend to study more next semester.”

Using برنامه داشتن “to have a plan”:

برای جمعه برنامه داریم، می‌ریم کوه.
barâye jomʿe barnâme dârim, mirim kuh.
“We have plans for Friday, we are going to the mountain.”

These are present tense verbs, but because they express intention, the sentence usually refers to the future.

The Formal “Will” with خواستن

Persian does have a special grammatical future construction with the verb خواستن “to want.” In formal written Persian and sometimes in careful speech, this construction works somewhat like “will” in English. It is less frequent in everyday conversation, but you will see it in news, formal writing, and official speech.

The stem is خواه and it takes the present endings that you already know. Then you put the short infinitive (for example, رفتَن, خوردَن) after it. There is no می in this construction.

Here is the full paradigm with the verb “to go” رفتن:

من خواهم رفت.
man xâham raft.
“I will go.”

تو خواهی رفت.
to xâhi raft.
“You will go.” (singular)

او خواهد رفت.
u xâhad raft.
“He / she will go.”

ما خواهیم رفت.
mâ xâhim raft.
“We will go.”

شما خواهید رفت.
šomâ xâhid raft.
“You will go.” (plural / formal)

آنها خواهند رفت.
ânhâ xâhand raft.
“They will go.”

The same pattern with other verbs:

او فردا خواهد آمد.
u fardâ xâhad âmâd.
“He will come tomorrow.”

امتحان ساعتِ سه شروع خواهد شد.
emtehân sâʿat-e se šoruʿ xâhad šod.
“The exam will start at three.”

In modern spoken Persian, people usually prefer simple present with a time word instead of this construction.

Negation of the Formal Future

To negate the formal future, you put نـ before خواه. The endings and the main verb stay the same.

من نخواهم رفت.
man naxâham raft.
“I will not go.”

آنها نخواهند ماند.
ânhâ naxâhand mând.
“They will not stay.”

قرارداد امسال تمدید نخواهد شد.
qarârdâd emsâl tamdid naxâhad šod.
“The contract will not be extended this year.”

Again, this pattern is mainly written or formal.

Spoken Alternatives to the Formal Future

In everyday conversation, speakers almost never say خواهم رفت or خواهد آمد. Instead they usually choose one of these patterns:

Simple present + future time:

فردا می‌رم.
fardâ miram.
“I will go tomorrow.”

Future intention with می‌خوام:

می‌خوام فردا برم.
mixâm fardâ beram.
“I am going to go tomorrow.” / “I want to go tomorrow.”

Present continuous meaning “about to” or “already decided” is normally covered by the same می forms in context, so you do not need a separate tense.

When you read or listen to news, formal speeches, or official announcements, you will meet the formal future with خواهد very often. When you speak, you will sound more natural if you mostly use the simple present and intention verbs.

Future in Conditionals and Promises

Persian conditionals and promises also often refer to the future. Grammatically, they still use present forms.

Simple conditional:

اگر بیای، خوشحال می‌شم.
agar biâi, xošhâl mišam.
“If you come, I will be happy.”

Here بیای and می‌شم are present forms, but the meaning is future.

Another example:

اگر وقت داشته باشم، فردا کمکت می‌کنم.
agar vaqt dâšte bâšam, fardâ komaket mikonam.
“If I have time, I will help you tomorrow.”

For promises and offers, you also keep the present:

قول می‌دم فردا زنگ بزنم.
qol midam fardâ zang bezanam.
“I promise I will call tomorrow.”

بهت خبر می‌دم.
behet xabar midam.
“I will let you know.”

Notice that English uses “will,” but Persian uses present tense verbs, with or without time expressions.

Expressing “About to” and “Soon”

Sometimes you want to say that something is about to happen or will happen very soon. Persian uses adverbs and expressions with present tense to give this nuance.

Using الان “now” and الان‌ها “soon / any moment now”:

اتوبوس الان می‌رسه.
otobus alân miresé.
“The bus is arriving now.” / “The bus will arrive any moment.”

فیلم الان‌ها شروع می‌شه.
film alân-hâ šoruʿ mišé.
“The movie is starting soon.”

Using نزدیکه “is close to, is about to”:

نزدیکه بارون بیاد.
nazdike bârûn biyâd.
“It is about to rain.”

نزدیکه امتحان‌مون تموم بشه.
nazdike emtehânemun tamum bešé.
“Our exam is about to finish.”

Persian, again, does not need a special tense for this. It uses adverbs and adjectives to give the “about to” meaning around present forms.

Future in Questions

When you ask about the future, the verb usually remains in the simple present. Time expressions or context tell us that the meaning is future.

فردا می‌آی کلاس؟
fardâ miâi kelâs?
“Are you coming to class tomorrow?” / “Will you come to class tomorrow?”

کی برمی‌گردی؟
key barmigardi?
“When will you come back?”

کی امتحان می‌دی؟
key emtehân midi?
“When are you taking the exam?” / “When will you take the exam?”

For more formal questions, especially in writing or announcements, you might see the formal future:

انتخابات چه زمانی برگزار خواهد شد؟
entexâbât che zamâni bargozâr xâhad šod?
“When will the elections take place?”

In your own speech, it is enough to master questions with the simple present and time words.

Mixing Present and Future in Narration

In stories or explanations, Persian often mixes present and future references without changing verb forms, as long as the time is clear from context.

For example, a teacher explaining the plan for next week:

دوشنبه درسِ جدید رو شروع می‌کنیم، بعد تمرین‌ها رو حل می‌کنیم، آخرِ کلاس هم یک گفت‌وگو داریم.
došanbe dars-e jadid ro šoruʿ mikonim, baʿd tamrin-hâ ro hal mikonim, âxar-e kelâs ham yek goft-o-gu dârim.
“On Monday we will start the new lesson, then we will do the exercises, and at the end of the class we will also have a dialogue.”

All verb forms are in the simple present, but everything is in the future. This “present for future” style is very common in spoken Persian when you explain a plan or schedule.

Vocabulary Table