The everyday future is the present tense
In conversation Persian almost always uses the present, with a time word doing the work of English "will":
- فردا به تهران میروم. — I will go to Tehran tomorrow.
- هفتهٔ بعد شروع میکنیم. — We will start next week.
- امشب زنگ میزنم. — I will call tonight.
- نگران نباش، کمکت میکنم. — Don't worry, I will help you.
Nothing marks the future here except فردا, هفتهٔ بعد, امشب, or simply the situation.
The formal future: خواهم + past stem
Writing, news and speeches use a real future tense: the auxiliary خواستن conjugated, followed by the bare past stem. The main verb takes no ending and no prefix.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| من | خواهم رفت |
| تو | خواهی رفت |
| او | خواهد رفت |
| ما | خواهیم رفت |
| شما | خواهید رفت |
| آنها | خواهند رفت |
- رئیسجمهور فردا به اصفهان خواهد رفت. — The president will travel to Isfahan tomorrow.
- این کتاب سال آینده منتشر خواهد شد. — This book will be published next year.
The negative goes on the auxiliary: نخواهم رفت، نخواهد آمد.
Compound verbs
The light verb turns into its past stem and the auxiliary stands in front of it:
- کار خواهم کرد. — I will work.
- صحبت خواهیم کرد. — We will talk.
خواهم رفت is not میخواهم بروم
| Persian | English |
|---|---|
| خواهم رفت | I will go |
| میخواهم بروم | I want to go |
| میروم | I go / I am going / I will go |
Watch out as an English speaker
- The main verb after خواهم is the past stem, not a subjunctive: ✗ خواهم بروم. / ✓ خواهم رفت.
- It takes no personal ending of its own: ✗ خواهم رفتم. / ✓ خواهم رفت.
- Negate the auxiliary: ✗ خواهم نرفت. / ✓ نخواهم رفت.
- English marks the future in every sentence. Doing that in Persian sounds like a news bulletin: for "I'll call you tonight" say امشب زنگ میزنم, not امشب زنگ خواهم زد.
Example dialogue
فردا میآیی؟ — Are you coming tomorrow?
بله، ساعت ۱۰ آنجا هستم. — Yes, I'll be there at ten.
جلسه کِی تمام میشود؟ — When will the meeting finish?
گفتند که تا ظهر تمام خواهد شد. — They said it will be finished by noon.