The Spanish near future tense is an alternative to the traditional future tense in Spanish. If you haven't yet learned to conjugate the future tense in Spanish or find it difficult, we recommend using the near future tense in Spanish, which is expressed with a simple formula that we'll teach you today.
Since the near future tense in Spanish is most commonly (but not always!) seen in the present indicative tense, it will behoove you to make sure you know the present indicative conjugation of the verb ir. Let's take a look:
| Subject Pronoun | Present Conjugation of Ir |
| yo | voy |
| tú | vas |
| él, ella, usted | va |
| nosotros/as | vamos |
| vosotros/as | vais |
| ellos/as, ustedes | van |
Now that we've recalled the present indicative conjugation of ir, let's take a look at the formula for the Spanish near future tense, which is ir + a + infinitive. As ir means "to go," and a can mean "to," you can think of the Spanish near future tense as "to be going to" do something. Let's see some examples:
¡Abuelo, no vas a creer lo que te voy a contar!
Grandpa, you aren't going to believe what I'm going to tell you!
Caption 9, Guillermina y Candelario El Mejor Columpio
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y ellos nos van a dar un poco de información.
and they are going to give us a bit of information.
Caption 4, El Aula Azul Los profesores de la escuela - Part 2
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Entonces, hoy vamos a hablar de la familia.
So, today we are going to talk about family.
Caption 1, Curso de español Vamos a hablar de la familia
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Sidenote:
The first person plural form vamos a + infinitive can also be an alternative for the nosotros/as command form, which is the equivalent of "Let's" [do something] in English. We see this in the popular expression Vamos a ver (Let's see):
Así que, vamos a ver de qué se trata.
So, let's see what it is.
Caption 6, Ana Carolina Receta para una picada
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That said, although there may be some cases in which it is difficult to determine whether a Spanish sentence with vamos a + infinitive is intended to mean "we're going to" or "let's," in most cases, context should make this clear.
Technically, the Spanish near future tense is intended for events that are imminent rather than in the distant future, and for that reason, it is quite often accompanied by words like ahora (now) or hoy (today), as in the following examples:
y hoy les voy a dar siete consejos prácticos para mejorar su pronunciación en español.
and today I'm going to give you seven practical tips to improve your pronunciation in Spanish.
Captions 4-5, Ana Carolina Mejorando la pronunciación
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Muy bien. Pues ahora, vais a practicar más.
Very good. Well, now you're going to practice more.
Caption 39, Clase Aula Azul La segunda condicional - Part 7
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Having said that, the near future tense is extremely common to hear in spoken Spanish (probably more so than the traditional future tense) and will often be heard describing events with a vaguer or more distant timeline:
Y algún día voy a ser la voz líder de mi banda, los Equis seis.
And someday, I'm going to be the lead singer of my band, the X6 [Ex Six].
Caption 11, X6 1 - La banda - Part 1
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For this reason, as the traditional future and near future tenses are virtually equivalent in terms of meaning, you should feel free to use this near future tense "hack" in virtually any situation in which you wish to describe an action in the future.
So, what if, rather than saying you "are going to" do something, you wish to say that, at a certain moment in the past, you "were going to" perform an action? You would do so by using the near future tense, but conjugating the infinitive ir in the Spanish imperfect tense. Let's take a look at it:
| Subject Pronoun | Imperfect Conjugation of Ir |
| yo | iba |
| tú | ibas |
| él, ella, usted | iba |
| nosotros/as | íbamos |
| vosotros/as | ibais |
| ellos/as, ustedes | iban |
Now, let's see some examples:
Llegué al examen muy contenta porque sabía que iba a aprobar.
I got to the exam very happy because I knew I was going to pass.
Captions 64-65, Los casos de Yabla El examen - Part 1
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Te dije que íbamos a hacer ejercicio.
I told you we were going to exercise.
Caption 67, Cleer y Lida Los números
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Sidenotes:
1. Be aware that this same construction could be used to indicate something one "used to go do" in the past, for example, "En el verano, yo iba a nadar a la piscina" ("In summer, I'd go to swim at the pool"). Context will usually tell you which meaning is intended.
2. For the past version of the near future tense, remember to use the imperfect, or ongoing past tense, rather than the Spanish preterite tense, which would indicate that something already happened (E.g. Yo fui a nadar a la piscina = I went to swim at the pool).
Let's conclude today's lesson with a little quiz. Taking a few examples of the traditional future tense from our library, see if you can convert them to the present indicative form of the near future tense. Try to do them yourself prior to looking at the answers.
Future Tense:
No, abuelito. ¡Hoy haré el salto más alto del mundo!
No, Grandpa. Today I'll do the world's highest jump!
Caption 12, Guillermina y Candelario Una Amiga muy Presumida - Part 1
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Near Future Tense:
No, abuelito. ¡Hoy voy a hacer el salto más alto del mundo!
No, Grandpa. Today I'm going to do the world's highest jump!)
Future Tense:
Sin embargo de esto hablaremos en la próxima lección.
However, we will talk about this in the next lesson.
Caption 51, Carlos explica Diminutivos y Aumentativos Cap 1: Los sufijos
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Near Future Tense:
Sin embargo de esto vamos a hablar en la próxima lección
However, we're going to talk about this in the next lesson.
Future Tense:
Verán que mañana el estadio estará lleno.
You guys will see that tomorrow the stadium will be full.
Caption 45, Carlos explica Tuteo, ustedeo y voseo: Ustedes y vosotros
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Near Future Tense:
Van a ver que mañana el estadio va a estar lleno.
You guys are going to see that tomorrow the stadium is going to be full.
That's all for today. We hope that this lesson has helped you to feel more confident using the Spanish near future tense, which can come in quite handy when talking about your plans... and don't forget to write us with your suggestions and comments.
In a previous lesson, we talked about short form possessive adjectives in Spanish: words like mi (my), tu (your), and nuestro (our), etc. that are placed in front of a noun to indicate ownership. The focus of this lesson will be long form possessive adjectives in Spanish, which, while similar in meaning, are different in terms of their form and placement.
While short form Spanish possessive adjectives always go before the noun they modify, long form possessive adjectives in Spanish come after the noun they describe. Furthermore, while some of the short form Spanish possessive adjectives remain the same whether a noun is masculine or feminine, long form Spanish possessive adjectives always change form for singular/plural and masculine/feminine in all of their forms. And finally, while short form possessive adjectives in Spanish never go with an article, long form Spanish possessive adjectives are often accompanied by a noun's definite or indefinite article.
Let's take a look at the long form Spanish possessive adjectives, their possible meanings, and how they correspond to the personal pronouns in Spanish. You will note that the long form Spanish possessive adjectives for nosotros/as and vosotros/as are the exact same as their short form equivalents.
Yo: mío, mío, míos, mías (my, mine, of mine)
Tú: tuyo, tuya, tuyos, tuyas (your, yours, of yours)
Él/ella/usted: suyo, suya, suyos, suyas (his, of his, her, hers, of hers, your, yours, of yours, its)
Nosotros/nosotras: nuestro, nuestros, nuestra, nuestras (our, ours, of ours)
Vosotros/vosotras: vuestro, vuestros, vuestra, vuestras ((plural informal) your, yours, of yours)
Ellos/ellas/ustedes: suyo, suya, suyos, suyas (their, theirs, of theirs, (plural) your, yours, of yours)
You may have noticed that, in comparison to short form Spanish possessive adjectives, there are more possible translations for long form possessive adjectives in Spanish, which will vary according to their context.
Let's take a look at the many translations of long form possessive adjectives in Spanish via a plethora of examples from Yabla's Spanish video library.
Este sombrero es mío. Estos sombreros son míos.
This hat is mine. These hats are mine.
Captions 10-11, Clase Aula Azul La posesión - Part 2
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Esta botella es mía. Estas botellas son mías.
This bottle is mine. These bottles are mine.
Captions 15-16, Clase Aula Azul La posesión - Part 2
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We chose these two examples to illustrate that, as we mentioned, long form Spanish possessive adjectives always agree with the nouns they modify in terms of both number and gender. As with short form Spanish possessive adjectives, the number/gender of the person or entity that "owns" is insignificant. Additionally, you will note that the translation for these Spanish possessive adjectives here is "mine." Let's look at an example where their translation is slightly different:
Y han venido unos amigos míos desde Mallorca, aquí hasta Málaga,
And some friends of mine have come here to Malaga from Mallorca
Caption 15, Amaya Voluntarios
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Not only do we see an alternative translation for the long form Spanish possessive adjective míos (of mine), we see that long form Spanish possessive can be accompanied an article, in this case, the indefinite article unos.
Now, let's look at some translations for the long form Spanish possessive adjective tuyo and its variants:
¿Es tuya esta mochila?
Is this backpack yours?
Caption 6, Conversaciones en el parque Cap. 3: ¿De quién es esta mochila?
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Así que, ¿no soy hijo tuyo?
So, I'm not your son?
Caption 68, Muñeca Brava 7 El poema - Part 2
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The interesting thing about this second example is that the long form Spanish possessive adjective tuyo has been translated as "your" instead of "yours" or "of yours," which is identical to the translation for the equivalent short form Spanish possessive adjective (tu). Hence, the same English sentence could have been written with the short form possessive adjective in Spanish, as follows:
Así que, ¿no soy tu hijo?
So, I'm not your son?
So, we see that there are cases in which we could choose to use either the long or short form Spanish possessive adjective to express the exact same idea in English, although the long form is, perhaps, the slightly less common/more literary manner of doing so.
As we saw in Part 1 of this lesson about short form Spanish possessive adjectives in regards to su and sus, this particular set of long form possessive adjectives can be confusing because they correspond with a lot of personal pronouns (él, ella, usted, ellos, ellas, and ustedes) and thus have a multitude of different translations, which we listed above. Context should usually help you to determine the meaning of these long form possessive adjectives in Spanish. Let's take a look:
Estos sombreros son suyos.
These hats are hers.
Caption 31, Clase Aula Azul La posesión - Part 2
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While this example seems pretty simple at first glance, since the masculine plural form of the Spanish possessive adjective was chosen to agree with the noun it modifies (sombreros) rather than its corresponding personal pronoun (ella), this very same sentence could also mean "These hats are his," "These hats are yours" (one person or multiple people), or "These hats are theirs" (all males, all females, or a mixed group). So, let's hope that the text or conversation has given you some previous clues as to who the hats belong to and/or who is being spoken about (it usually does!). Let's see another example:
Efectivamente, era el rostro suyo
Indeed, it was his face
Caption 35, Aprendiendo con Carlos El microrrelato - Part 3
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What can we discern here? First, because the previous sentences in this flash fiction story by Carlos refer to the maestro de ceremonias, we know that "his" was the correct translation choice for suyo in this context. Second, remember that since the translation for the short form possessive adjective in Spanish su in English can also be "his," the very same idea could also have been conveyed with the sentence: "Efectivamente, era su rostro." Finally, we will reiterate that, although with short form possessive Spanish adjectives, the article is never used (it's simply su rostro), with the long form, they can be, as in the case of el rostro suyo. That said, this is a personal choice, and one might also omit the article and write simply "era rostro suyo" with no change in meaning. Let's look at one more variation of this long form Spanish possessive adjective.
Y también me gustó mucho la novela suya, eh, "Amor y pico"; me encantó.
And I also liked your soap opera a lot, um, "Love and Fortune;" I loved it.
Caption 41, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa Capítulo 2 - Part 1
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Here, since the speaker is consistently addressing a female actress with usted (formal "you") and talking to her about a soap opera she did, it is obvious that "your" is the intended meaning of the long form Spanish possessive adjective suya, which agrees in number and gender with the noun it modifies (la novela) and that, furthermore, the speaker chose to include that noun's definite article (la). We bet you're getting the hang of this by now!
Let's start off with some very simple examples:
Este sombrero es nuestro. Estos sombreros son nuestros. Esta botella es nuestra. Estas botellas son nuestras.
This hat is ours. These hats are ours. This bottle is ours. These bottles are ours.
Captions 35-38, Clase Aula Azul La posesión - Part 2
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Now, let's move on to a bit tougher one:
Padre nuestro, vamos a bendecir el alimento que vamos a comer.
Father of ours [or "Our Father], let's bless the food that we are going to eat.
Caption 55, Lecciones con Carolina Adjetivos posesivos - Part 1
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Through these clips, we can see not only the number/gender agreement we have been speaking about, but also some different translations for the long form Spanish possessive adjective forms of nuestro.
Let's conclude our lesson by looking at some clips of the long form Spanish possessive adjectives vuestro, etc.:
Esta botella es vuestra. Estas botellas son vuestras.
This bottle is yours [plural]. These bottles are yours [plural].
Captions 41-42, Clase Aula Azul La posesión - Part 2
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¿Y el embutido es vuestro?
And, the sausage is yours?
Caption 57, 75 minutos Del campo a la mesa - Part 4
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In lieu of this translation, this last sentence might also have been translated as "And is the sausage yours?" or even "And is it your sausage?"
We hope that this lesson has helped you to understand long form Spanish possessive adjectives and how they are different from short form possessive adjectives in Spanish. As an additional source for learning about long form possessive adjectives in Spanish, we additionally recommend the lesson Clase Aula Azul- La posesión- Part 2, and no se olviden de dejarnos los comentarios y sugerencias tuyos (don't forget to leave us your comments and suggestions).
How many Spanish question words do you know? Can you write a question in Spanish correctly? Asking questions is one of the most essential skills when learning Spanish. In this lesson, you'll learn the most important interrogative words in Spanish and how to structure your questions properly.
Before we dive into the question words themselves, let's cover some basics about asking questions in Spanish.
'The word 'question' in Spanish is pregunta. It's a feminine noun, and its plural form is preguntas. Let's hear how to pronounce it:
Kevin, la pregunta es:
Kevin, the question is:
Caption 13, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 1
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Los voy a dejar con cuatro preguntas.
I am going to leave you with four questions.
Caption 48, Carlos explica - Tuteo, ustedeo y voseo: Ustedes y vosotros
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Writing questions in Spanish follows specific rules. Let's break down the structure you need to know.
Spanish uses inverted question marks. Every question starts with an opening question mark (¿) and ends with a closing one (?):
¿Cómo es Japón?
What's Japan like?
¿Qué te gusta de Japón?
What do you like about Japan?
Captions 69-70, Clase Aula Azul - Pedir deseos
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Creating yes/no questions is simple. Your intonation matters most here. Transform any statement into a question using this structure:
¿ + (subject) + conjugated verb + (additional information) + ?
📌 Elements in parentheses are optional.
Examples:
A Pedro le gusta comer pizza. (Pedro likes to eat pizza.)
¿A Pedro le gusta comer pizza? (Does Pedro like to eat pizza?)
📌 For negative questions, add "no" before the verb:
No quieres estudiar. (You don't want to study.)
¿No quieres estudiar? (Don't you want to study?)
Listen to these examples and notice how the speaker's voice rises at the end:
Mmm... ¿Quieres ir al cine?
Mmm... Do you want to go to the movies?
-Sí, ¡buena idea!
-Yes, good idea!
Captions 45-46, Conversaciones en el parque - Cap. 5: Me gusta mucho este parque.
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¿Necesitas ayuda?
Do you need help?
-Mmm... Sí.
-Mmm... Yes.
Captions 9-10, Español para principiantes - La hora
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¿No conoces Manhattan?
You don't know Manhattan?
Caption 37, Yago - 2 El puma
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📌 Yes/no questions commonly start with a conjugated verb.
When asking for specific information, use this structure:
¿ + (preposition) + question word + conjugated verb + (additional information) + ?
📌 Elements in parentheses are optional.
Example:
¡Oh! ¿Dónde está el cajero automático?
Oh! Where's the ATM?
Caption 36, Natalia de Ecuador - Palabras de uso básico
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Structure breakdown:
¿ + question word (dónde) + conjugated verb (está) + additional information (el cajero automático) + ?
Let's listen to another clip:
¿Desde cuándo tienes este piso?
Since when have you had this apartment?
Caption 35, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos
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Structure breakdown:
¿ + preposition (desde) + question word (cuándo) + conjugated verb (tienes) + additional information (este piso) + ?
Ready to learn the most important interrogative words? Here are the Spanish equivalents of 'what', 'which', 'when', 'where', 'who', 'why', and 'how'.
• What / Which (Qué / Cuál)
• When (Cuándo)
• Where (Dónde)
• Who (Quién)
• Why (Por qué)
• How (Cómo)
Now, let's see each one of these question words in action with a list of some of the most basic Spanish questions you can ask.
Diremos, "¿Qué hora es?"
We'll say, "What time is it?"
Caption 49, Español para principiantes - La hora
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O, ¿A qué te dedicas?
Or, What do you do? [with "tú"].
Caption 17, Karla e Isabel - Tú y Usted
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Oye, y ¿en qué trabajas?
Hey, and what do you do [for a living]?
Caption 82, Ricardo - La compañera de casa
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Por supuesto; ¿cuál es su dirección de correo?
Of course; what is your e-mail address?
Caption 69, Negocios - Empezar en un nuevo trabajo
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¿Recuerdas cuál era la copa para servir vino?
Do you remember which cup was the one for serving wine?
Caption 36, Ana Carolina - El comedor
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¿Y cuándo hizo el "check-in"?
And when did he check-in?
Caption 13, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capítulo 3
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¿Cuándo terminas de estudiar?
When do you finish studying?
Caption 72, Carlos explica - Tuteo, ustedeo y voseo: Conjugación
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¿De dónde eres?
Where are you from?
Caption 36, Curso de español - ¿De dónde eres?
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Y ¿en dónde vives?
And where do you live?
Caption 8, Cleer - Entrevista a Lila
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Here's how to ask about locations:
¿Me podrías decir dónde está el baño?
Could you tell me where the bathroom is?
Caption 7, Raquel - Expresiones para un festival de música.
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¿Sabes dónde hay alguna farmacia?
Do you know where there's a pharmacy?
Caption 24, Raquel - Expresiones para un festival de música.
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Use quién to find out someone's identity:
Mi jugador favorito juega en el Real Madrid.
My favorite player plays for Real Madrid.
¿Quién es?
Who is it?
Captions 19-20, El Aula Azul - Las Profesiones
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¿Usted quién es?
Who are you?
Roberto. Un amigo.
Roberto. A friend.
Captions 24-25, Yago - 9 Recuperación
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¿Por qué dices eso? -No...
Why are you saying that? -No...
Caption 14, Cortometraje - Beta
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Para saludar, podemos decir: "Hola. ¿Cómo estás? ¿Todo bien?"
To greet (people), we can say: "Hello. How are you? (Is) everything good?"
Caption 7, Español en las calles - Varias expresiones
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📌 Remember: cómo doesn't always translate to 'how'. Here's a common example:
Buenos días, ¿cómo te llamas?
Good morning, what's your name?
Caption 8, La rutina diaria - La mañana
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To ask about age, price, or quantity, Spanish uses different question words:
Ah, lindo.
Oh, nice.
¿Cuánto cuesta?
How much does it cost?
Captions 33-34, Natalia de Ecuador - Palabras de uso básico
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¿Cuántos años tienes?
How old are you?
Caption 6, Cleer - Entrevista a Lila
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Ah, vale. ¿Cuántos hijos tienes?
Oh, OK. How many sons do you have?
Caption 39, Clase Aula Azul - El verbo parecer
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¿Y cuántas botellas de agua hay aquí?
And how many bottles of water are there here?
Caption 78, Español para principiantes - Los números del 1 al 100
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Now you're ready to ask questions in Spanish! Practice using these question words in your conversations. We'd love to hear from you—send us your thoughts and any questions you have about Spanish question words!
Let's enhance our vocabulary today! As you know, nouns in Spanish are defined by number and gender. However, there are some nouns that can be both masculine and feminine. Moreover, depending on the gender they have, these nouns change their meanings completely. With that being said, let's take a look at some Spanish words that change meaning with gender.
Feminine: la capital (a capital city)
Está ubicada a ciento diez kilómetros de Quito, la capital del Ecuador.
It is located one hundred and ten kilometers from Quito, the capital of Ecuador.
Caption 6, Otavalo - El mercado de artesanías de Otavalo
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Masculine: el capital (capital: money)
No buscar la acumulación de capital
It's not seeking the accumulation of capital,
sino buscar la satisfacción de necesidades sociales.
but seeking the satisfaction of social necessities.
Captions 74-75, De consumidor a persona - Short Film
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Feminine: la cólera (anger, rage)
Masculine: el cólera (cholera - the illness)
Feminine: la coma (a comma - punctuation)
Masculine: el coma (a coma - medicine)
Feminine: la cometa (a kite)
Pero la cometa estaba muy alta para cogerla.
But the kite was too high to grab.
Caption 22, Guillermina y Candelario - El Gran Descubrimiento
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Masculine: el cometa (a comet - astronomy)
Feminine: la corte (a court of law OR the royal court of a king)
Creo que voy a apelar esta decisión a la Corte Suprema.
I think I'm going to appeal this decision to the Supreme Court.
Caption 83, Los casos de Yabla - Problemas de convivencia
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...que le habían sido cedidos para recreo de la corte.
...that had been handed over to him for the court's recreation.
Caption 59, Marisa en Madrid - Parque de El Retiro
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Masculine: el corte (a cut - injury OR the cut of hair or a suit)
Y ahora voy a hacer el corte aquí.
And now I am going to make the cut here.
Caption 42, Instrumentos musicales - Ocarinas
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Feminine: la cura (the cure)
Tu madre no tiene cura.
Your mom has no cure.
Caption 45, Muñeca Brava - 44 El encuentro
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Masculine: el cura (a priest)
Aquí no habrá noche de bodas mientras no vayan con un cura.
Here, there will be no wedding night until you go to a priest.
Caption 23, El Ausente - Acto 4
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Feminine: la final (the sports final, the playoffs)
Jueguen como si fuera la final.
Play as if it were the finals.
Caption 46, Carlos explica - Tuteo, ustedeo y voseo: Ustedes y vosotros
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Masculine: el final (the end)
Al final le he pedido disculpas y todo.
In the end, I apologized to him and everything.
Caption 55, Cortometraje - Flechazos
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Feminine: la frente (the forehead)
"María le tocó la frente a su hijo para ver si tenía fiebre".
"Maria touched her son's forehead to see if he had a fever."
Caption 17, Carlos explica - Vocabulario: El verbo “tocar”
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Masculine: el frente (the front - military)
Los soldados están en el frente de batalla.
The soldiers are on the battle front.
Feminine: la guía (a guide book OR a female guide OR a telephone book OR guidance)
Todo bajo la guía de un profesor de educación física.
All with the guidance of a P.E. teacher.
Caption 7, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 1
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¡Pippo, traé una guía!
Pippo, bring me a phone directory.
Caption 55, Yago - 5 La ciudad
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Masculine: el guía (a male guide)
Mi nombre es Mauricio y soy un guía turístico.
My name is Mauricio and I'm a tour guide.
Caption 27, Pipo - Un paseo por la playa de Atacames
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Feminine: la orden (a command OR a restaurant order)
Normalmente, cuando estás haciendo una orden...
Usually, when you're placing an order...
Caption 28, Natalia de Ecuador - Ordenar en un restaurante
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Masculine: el orden (order)
Listo, señor Rolleri; todo en orden.
Done, Mister Rolleri; everything's in order.
Caption 68, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capítulo 2
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That's if for today. Do you know more Spanish words that change meaning with gender? We challenge you to find more and don't forget to send us your questions and comments.
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