2.2 Future Tense

Overview of the Future in Urdu

In this chapter you meet the basic future tense in Urdu. At A2 level we focus on how to say what will happen, especially with the common future markers گا, گی, گے.

You will learn only the core uses here. More detailed work on making plans and expressing intentions will be treated separately in the subchapter “Talking about plans”.

The Idea of Future in Urdu

Urdu usually expresses the simple future with a future marker attached to the verb. This marker agrees with the subject in gender and number.

Compare in English:

• “I will go.”
• “She will eat.”
• “They will come.”

In Urdu, the future is built into the verb form itself. There is no separate word like “will” in most cases.

The Future Marker گا, گی, گے

Agreement of گا / گی / گے

The endings گا, گی, گے agree with the subject, not with the object.

Very important pattern:

This is true regardless of the verb or the object.

Simple examples with جانا “to go”

Base (dictionary form): جانا jānā “to go”.

Note that the future ending is written separately in Roman transcription here for clarity, although in Urdu script it is written as part of the verb phrase.

Forming the Simple Future

For beginners, it is most useful to learn full future forms of common verbs, instead of trying to memorize a complex rule.

Still, it helps to see a basic pattern:

1. Start with the verb stem (for example, کر from کرنا “to do”, جا from جانا “to go”).
2. Add a future “helping part” like -e, -o, -ūṅ.
3. Add گا / گی / گے according to the subject.

Very simplified pattern for regular verbs:

• main + stem + ūṅ + گا/گی
• tum + stem + o + گا/گی/گے
• aap + stem + eṅ + گے
• woh (singular) + stem + e + گا/گی
• hum / woh (plural) + stem + eṅ + گے

Do not worry if the stem changes a little (for example آنا “to come” becomes āūṅ with “main”). You will meet these forms often and they will become familiar.

Future Forms of Very Common Verbs

Future of ہونا “to be” (as an independent verb)

You already know present forms like ہے, ہوں, ہیں. For the future, Urdu uses full verb forms from the root ہو.

Here are the most useful ones:

Usage in short examples:

• کل میں گھر پر ہوں گا۔
  Kal main ghar par hūṅ gā.
  “Tomorrow I will be at home.” (speaker male)
• کل میں گھر پر ہوں گی۔
  Kal main ghar par hūṅ gī.
  “Tomorrow I will be at home.” (speaker female)
• وہ خوش ہوگا۔
  Woh khush ho gā.
  “He will be happy.”
• وہ تھکی ہوگی۔
  Woh thakī ho gī.
  “She will be tired.”

Future of کرنا “to do”

Example sentences:

• میں کام کروں گا۔
  Main kām karūṅ gā.
  “I will do the work.” (male)
• میں ہوم ورک کروں گی۔
  Main homework karūṅ gī.
  “I will do homework.” (female)
• وہ کھانا کرے گا is incorrect. Use verbs like کھانا کھائے گا for “he will eat food”, not کھانا کرے گا. So کرنا is usually “to do” an activity, project, work, etc.

Future of جانا “to go”

Examples:

• میں کل لاہور جاؤں گا۔
  Main kal Lahore jāūṅ gā.
  “Tomorrow I will go to Lahore.” (male)
• میں شام کو دکان جاؤں گی۔
  Main shām ko dukān jāūṅ gī.
  “In the evening I will go to the shop.” (female)
• ہم سکول جائیں گے۔
  Hum school jāeṅ ge.
  “We will go to school.”

Future of آنا “to come”

Examples:

• کل میں آپ کے گھر آؤں گا۔
  Kal main aap ke ghar āūṅ gā.
  “Tomorrow I will come to your house.” (male)
• وہ جلدی آئے گی۔
  Woh jaldī āe gī.
  “She will come soon.”
• وہ سب پارٹی میں آئیں گے۔
  Woh sab party meṅ āeṅ ge.
  “They all will come to the party.”

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Making Simple Future Sentences

The basic word order of Urdu does not change in the future. It remains Subject – Object – Verb.

Positive statements

Structure:

Examples:

1. میں کل کتاب پڑھوں گا۔
   Main kal kitāb paṛhūṅ gā.
   “I will read the book tomorrow.” (male)
2. وہ آج کھانا کھائے گی۔
   Woh āj khānā khāe gī.
   “She will eat food today.”
3. ہم کل بازار جائیں گے۔
   Hum kal bāzār jāeṅ ge.
   “We will go to the market tomorrow.”
4. وہ فلم دیکھے گا۔
   Woh film dekhe gā.
   “He will watch a movie.”
5. آپ یہاں انتظار کریں گے۔
   Aap yahāṅ intizār kareṅ ge.
   “You (formal) will wait here.”

Negatives in the future

To make a negative future, place نہیں (nahīṅ) before the verb phrase.

Examples:

1. میں کل نہیں جاؤں گا۔
   Main kal nahīṅ jāūṅ gā.
   “I will not go tomorrow.” (male)
2. وہ کھانا نہیں کھائے گی۔
   Woh khānā nahīṅ khāe gī.
   “She will not eat food.”
3. ہم آج ٹی وی نہیں دیکھیں گے۔
   Hum āj TV nahīṅ dekheṅ ge.
   “We will not watch TV today.”
4. وہ یہاں نہیں رہے گا۔
   Woh yahāṅ nahīṅ rahe gā.
   “He will not stay here.”
5. آپ دیر سے نہیں آئیں گے۔
   Aap der se nahīṅ āeṅ ge.
   “You will not come late.”

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Asking Questions in the Future

You can ask questions by using the same future forms but changing the intonation and sometimes the word order.

For yes / no questions, you often keep the normal order and raise your voice at the end. The question word کیا (kyā) can also be added at the beginning for clarity, although it is not always necessary.

Yes / no questions

Structure (most common):

Examples:

1. کیا تم کل آؤ گے؟
   Kyā tum kal āo ge?
   “Will you come tomorrow?” (to a male or mixed group)
2. کیا آپ کل آئیں گے؟
   Kyā aap kal āeṅ ge?
   “Will you come tomorrow?” (formal)
3. وہ سکول جائے گا؟
   Woh school jāe gā?
   “Will he go to school?”
4. تم کھانا کھاؤ گی؟
   Tum khānā khāo gī?
   “Will you eat food?” (to a female)
5. آپ میٹنگ میں ہوں گے؟
   Aap meeting meṅ hoṅ ge?
   “Will you be in the meeting?”

Short answers

To answer briefly, use ہاں (hāṅ) “yes” and نہیں (nahīṅ) “no”, often with a repeat of the subject and future verb.

Examples:

1. کیا تم کل آؤ گے؟
   Kyā tum kal āo ge?
   “Will you come tomorrow?”
• ہاں، میں آؤں گا۔
  Hāṅ, main āūṅ gā.
  “Yes, I will come.” (male)
• نہیں، میں نہیں آؤں گا۔
  Nahīṅ, main nahīṅ āūṅ gā.
  “No, I will not come.” (male)
2. کیا وہ کھانا کھائے گی؟
   Kyā woh khānā khāe gī?
   “Will she eat food?”
• ہاں، وہ کھائے گی۔
  Hāṅ, woh khāe gī.
  “Yes, she will eat.”
• نہیں، وہ نہیں کھائے گی۔
  Nahīṅ, woh nahīṅ khāe gī.
  “No, she will not eat.”

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Using Time Words with the Future

Time words are very important in Urdu when you talk about the future, because sometimes the same verb form can also express a general truth. To show that you talk about the future, add words like “tomorrow”, “later”, “next week”, and so on.

Some very common time expressions:

Example sentences:

• میں کل واپس آؤں گا۔
  Main kal vāpas āūṅ gā.
  “I will come back tomorrow.” (male)
• ہم اگلے ہفتے لاہور جائیں گے۔
  Hum agle haftē Lahore jāeṅ ge.
  “We will go to Lahore next week.”
• وہ کچھ دیر بعد فون کرے گا۔
  Woh kuch der bād phone kare gā.
  “He will call after some time.”
• میں آج رات ہوم ورک کروں گی۔
  Main āj rāt homework karūṅ gī.
  “I will do homework tonight.” (female)

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Difference Between Masculine and Feminine Future

For beginners, a very visible feature of Urdu future forms is that they show whether the speaker or subject is grammatically masculine or feminine.

Compare:

1. میں فلم دیکھوں گا۔
   Main film dekhūṅ gā.
   “I will watch a movie.”
   Speaker is male.
2. میں فلم دیکھوں گی۔
   Main film dekhūṅ gī.
   “I will watch a movie.”
   Speaker is female.
3. وہ سوئے گا۔
   Woh soye gā.
   “He will sleep.”
4. وہ سوئے گی۔
   Woh soye gī.
   “She will sleep.”
5. ہم کھیلیں گے۔
   Hum kheLeṅ ge.
   “We will play.”
   Group is plural, so always گے.

Whenever you speak about your own action, choose گا or گی depending on your own gender.

Practice Examples

Here are mixed examples so you can see the future in many common situations.

1. میں Urdu سیکھوں گا۔
   Main Urdu sīkhūṅ gā.
   “I will learn Urdu.” (male)
2. میں Urdu سیکھوں گی۔
   Main Urdu sīkhūṅ gī.
   “I will learn Urdu.” (female)
3. وہ کتاب نہیں لے گا۔
   Woh kitāb nahīṅ le gā.
   “He will not take the book.”
4. وہ پانی پیئے گی۔
   Woh pānī pīe gī.
   “She will drink water.”
5. تم کب آؤ گے؟
   Tum kab āo ge?
   “When will you come?” (to male or mixed group)
6. ہم کل دیر سے اٹھیں گے۔
   Hum kal der se uṭheṅ ge.
   “We will get up late tomorrow.”
7. آپ کیا کریں گے؟
   Aap kyā kareṅ ge?
   “What will you do?” (formal)
8. میں تمہیں بعد میں فون کروں گا۔
   Main tumheṅ bād meṅ phone karūṅ gā.
   “I will call you later.” (male, to “tum”)
9. وہ اگلے سال India جائے گا۔
   Woh agle sāl India jāe gā.
   “He will go to India next year.”
10. وہ اگلے سال India جائے گی۔
    Woh agle sāl India jāe gī.
    “She will go to India next year.”

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Vocabulary List for This Chapter

Below is a list of useful new words and forms that appeared in this chapter.

This chapter has given you the basic tools to talk about future events in Urdu using گا, گی, گے, both in statements and questions.