Forming the progressive future tense in Spanish with estar + present participle (El Futuro Progresivo)

The future tense in Spanish has a continuous (progressive) form to express an action which is continuing or ongoing in the future.

How to form El Futuro Progresivo in Spanish

The progressive tense of the El Futuro Simple is formed following this pattern for most regular verbs:

Estar in El Futuro Simple +

-ando (-AR verbs)

 

-iendo (-ER and -IR verbs)

It works the same way as the English future progressive "will be doing". But remember you must use estar and not ser.

Look at and listen to these examples:

Estaré estudiando durante horas para ese examen.I will be studying for hours for that exam.

Mañana estarás haciendo muchas cosas.Tomorrow you will be doing lots of things. [you=tú]

Laura estará viendo a su novio a escondidas esta semana.Laura will be seeing her boyfriend secretly this week.

En la reunión estaremos hablando sobre clientes importantes.At the meeting we will be talking about some important clients.

Probablemente estaréis chateando por skype una hora.You will probably be chatting via Skype for an hour. [you=vosotros]

Ustedes estarán disfrutando de sus vacaciones en Mallorca.You will be enjoying your holiday in Mallorca.

Ellos estarán preparando los entrantes en unos minutos.They will be preparing the starters [US: appetizers] in a few minutes.

Take a look at this table which shows you the construction with regular present participle examples:

ESTAR

Verbs ending in -AR
LLAMAR (to call)

Verbs ending in -ER-IR
APRENDER (to learn)
VIVIR (to live)

estaré

llamando


aprendiendo
viviendo



estarás

estará

estaremos

estaréis

estarán

 

For irregular present participles/gerunds see:

See also: Forming the pluperfect progressive tense in Spanish with estar + present participle (El Pluscuamperfecto Progresivo)

Want to make sure your Spanish sounds confident? We’ll map your knowledge and give you free lessons to focus on your gaps and mistakes. Start your Brainmap today »

Learn more about these related Spanish grammar topics

Examples and resources

Mañana estarás haciendo muchas cosas.Tomorrow you will be doing lots of things. [you=tú]
Laura estará viendo a su novio a escondidas esta semana.Laura will be seeing her boyfriend secretly this week.
En la reunión estaremos hablando sobre clientes importantes.At the meeting we will be talking about some important clients.
Ustedes estarán disfrutando de sus vacaciones en Mallorca.You will be enjoying your holiday in Mallorca.
Probablemente estaréis chateando por skype una hora.You will probably be chatting via Skype for an hour. [you=vosotros]
Ellos estarán preparando los entrantes en unos minutos.They will be preparing the starters [US: appetizers] in a few minutes.
Estaré estudiando durante horas para ese examen.I will be studying for hours for that exam.
I'll be right with you...