A2 · Elementary Chapter 19

The Future is Coming

2 Total Rules
20 examples
1 min
Rules in This Chapter Quick Practice

Chapter in 30 Seconds

Master the art of talking about tomorrow with confidence and precision.

  • Conjugate the auxiliary verb 'быть' for ongoing future actions.
  • Identify perfective verb forms for single, completed future results.
  • Distinguish between process and outcome in future planning.
Unlock your future with precision.

What You'll Learn

Forming the simple and compound future tense. Using perfective and imperfective verbs.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

  1. 1
    By the end you will be able to: describe your weekly routine and specific goals for the next month.

Key Examples (4)

1

Завтра я буду работать весь день.

Tomorrow I will be working all day.

Russian Future Tense: Ongoing Actions (Imperfective)
2

Мы будем смотреть новый сериал на Netflix.

We will be watching a new series on Netflix.

Russian Future Tense: Ongoing Actions (Imperfective)
3

Я напишу тебе в Telegram через пять минут.

I will text you on Telegram in five minutes.

Russian Future Perfective: Getting Results (Будущее время)
4

Мы закажем пиццу через приложение.

We will order pizza via the app.

Russian Future Perfective: Getting Results (Будущее время)

Tips & Tricks (2)

🎯

The 'Will Be' Hack

If you can translate your English sentence to 'I will be [verb]-ing', you almost always need the Russian imperfective future.
frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Russian Future Tense: Ongoing Actions (Imperfective)
🎯

The No-Will Rule

If you are using a verb with a prefix like 'про-' or 'по-', delete the word 'буду' from your mind. The prefix already does the work of 'will'!
frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Russian Future Perfective: Getting Results (Будущее время)

Key Vocabulary (6)

завтра tomorrow буду I will (be) на следующей неделе next week сделать to do/finish (perfective) отдыхать to rest/relax (imperfective) купить to buy (perfective)

Real-World Preview

calendar

Planning the Weekend

Review Summary

  • буду/будешь/будет + imperfective infinitive
  • perfective verb conjugated like present

Common Mistakes

Never use 'буду' with a perfective verb. Perfective verbs already contain the future meaning.

Wrong: Я буду сделаю это.
Correct: Я сделаю это.

Use imperfective for durations. Perfective implies a completed point in time.

Wrong: Я прочитаю книгу весь день.
Correct: Я буду читать книгу весь день.

While sometimes used in casual speech, for learners, explicitly using the future tense is clearer.

Wrong: Завтра я читаю книгу.
Correct: Завтра я буду читать книгу.

Next Steps

You have successfully navigated the future! Keep practicing these forms, and they will become second nature.

Write a list of 5 goals for next week using perfective verbs.

Continue to: Aspects of Action

Quick Practice (6)

Fill in the blank with the correct perfective form of 'сделать' (to do/make).

Я ___ это домашнее задание завтра. (I will do this homework tomorrow.)

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: сделаю
To show a completed result in the future, we conjugate the perfective verb 'сделать'. 'Буду сделать' is incorrect.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Russian Future Perfective: Getting Results (Будущее время)

Fill in the blank with the correct form of 'быть'.

Вечером мы ___ смотреть кино.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: будем
Since the subject is 'мы' (we), the correct form of the helper verb is 'будем'.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Russian Future Tense: Ongoing Actions (Imperfective)

Which sentence correctly expresses a future result?

Choose the grammatically correct sentence:

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Я напишу письмо.
The perfective future is formed by conjugating the perfective verb (написать) without 'буду'.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Russian Future Perfective: Getting Results (Будущее время)

Which sentence is grammatically correct?

Choose the correct way to say 'I will be working':

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Я буду работать.
You must use the helper verb 'буду' followed by the imperfective infinitive 'работать'. You cannot conjugate the second verb or use a perfective one.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Russian Future Tense: Ongoing Actions (Imperfective)

Find and fix the mistake in the sentence.

Find and fix the mistake:

Они будут играют в игры.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Они будут играть в игры.
The main verb must be in the infinitive form (играть), not conjugated (играют).

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Russian Future Tense: Ongoing Actions (Imperfective)

Find and fix the mistake in the sentence about a one-time plan.

Find and fix the mistake:

Мы будем купим билеты завтра.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Мы купим билеты завтра.
You cannot use 'будем' with the perfective verb 'купим'. Remove 'будем' to show the result.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Russian Future Perfective: Getting Results (Будущее время)

Score: /6

Common Questions (4)

It's just the technical name for using two words (быть + infinitive) to form the future tense. It's used for imperfective verbs.
No. 'Пойти' is perfective. With 'буду', you must use the imperfective 'идти' or 'ходить'.
It is a tense used for one-time actions or results in the future. You form it by conjugating a perfective verb using present-tense endings.
Perfective verbs already imply a completed future action when conjugated. Adding 'буду' is redundant and grammatically incorrect.
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Aspects of Action
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