Talking About the Future in Brazilian Portuguese

Talking about the future may seem simple: all we have to do is say what is going to happen. However, when we take a closer look at Brazilian Portuguese, we realize that there are several ways of expressing this idea. We can say “eu viajarei amanhã” (“I will travel tomorrow”), “eu vou viajar amanhã” (“I am going to travel tomorrow”), or, in certain contexts, “eu vou estar viajando amanhã” (“I will be traveling tomorrow”). Although all three constructions may refer to a future action, they do not have exactly the same structure or produce exactly the same effects of meaning.

Knowing these different forms is important not only for learning grammar but also for understanding how the language actually works in Brazilians’ everyday lives.

The Simple Future

The so-called futuro do presente do indicativo (future indicative), often simply referred to as the simple future, is a verb form traditionally used to indicate events that will occur after the moment of speaking.

Consider the following examples:

• Eu viajarei amanhã. — I will travel tomorrow.
• Nós estudaremos para a prova. — We will study for the exam.
• Ela chegará às oito horas. — She will arrive at eight o’clock.
• Eles comprarão uma casa. — They will buy a house.
• Você entenderá melhor o assunto depois. — You will understand the subject better later.

The forms viajarei, estudaremos, chegará, comprarão, and entenderá are verbs conjugated in the future indicative.

In formal written language, this construction is still widely used, especially in academic, journalistic, administrative, and literary texts. It also appears in situations in which a speaker or writer wishes to give an assertion a more formal tone:

“A comissão analisará os documentos apresentados.”
“The committee will review the documents submitted.”

However, an important characteristic of contemporary Brazilian Portuguese is that the simple future, although completely correct, is not the most frequent form in everyday conversation.

In daily life, it is very common for a Brazilian to say:

“Eu vou viajar amanhã.”
“I am going to travel tomorrow.”

instead of:

“Eu viajarei amanhã.”
“I will travel tomorrow.”

This brings us to the second way of expressing the future.

The Immediate Future: “ir + infinitive”

One of the most common constructions in Brazilian Portuguese for expressing future events is the combination of the verb ir (“to go”), conjugated in the present tense, with another verb in the infinitive.

For example:

• Eu vou viajar amanhã. — I am going to travel tomorrow.
• Ela vai estudar à noite. — She is going to study at night.
• Nós vamos sair depois do almoço. — We are going to leave after lunch.
• Eles vão comprar um carro novo. — They are going to buy a new car.
• Você vai gostar do filme. — You are going to like the movie.

This structure is often called the immediate future, periphrastic future, or simply the “ir + infinitive” construction.

It is important to understand that the verb ir in this case does not necessarily retain its original meaning of physical movement. In:

“Eu vou estudar.”

the verb vou does not mean that the person is physically going somewhere in order to study. Instead, it functions as an auxiliary in the construction of a future meaning.

This form is extremely productive in spoken Brazilian Portuguese. In many situations, it actually sounds more natural than the simple future:

“Amanhã vou trabalhar cedo.”
“Tomorrow I’m going to work early.”

may sound more spontaneous than:

“Amanhã trabalharei cedo.”
“Tomorrow I will work early.”

This does not mean that one form is “correct” and the other is “incorrect.” Both are grammatical. What changes, among other things, is the linguistic register, the communicative situation, and the effect of meaning.

What about the so-called “Gerundism”?

Here we encounter a phenomenon that often generates considerable discussion.

In Brazilian Portuguese, the term gerundismo is popularly used to refer to what is perceived as excessive use of constructions involving auxiliary verbs, the verb estar (“to be”), and another verb in the gerund, particularly when this structure is used to express a future action without a clear semantic need for it.

A well-known example is:

“Eu vou estar verificando o seu cadastro.”
“I will be checking your registration.”

In many contexts, this sentence could simply be:

“Eu vou verificar o seu cadastro.”
“I will check your registration.”

or:

“Verificarei o seu cadastro.”
“I will check your registration.”

The criticism of gerundismo, therefore, does not mean that every use of the gerund is incorrect.

The gerund is a perfectly legitimate verb form in Portuguese. It can indicate an action in progress:

“João está estudando.”
“João is studying.”

In this case, está estudando presents an action that is currently in progress.

The gerund can also be used to establish relationships between actions:

“Ele saiu correndo.”
“He left running.”

“Ela entrou sorrindo.”
“She came in smiling.”

The problem identified by critics of gerundismo lies mainly in certain bureaucratic or unnecessarily elongated constructions in which several auxiliary verbs are accumulated.

Three Ways of Talking About the Future

The three constructions can be summarized as follows:

Construction	Example	Characteristic
Simple future	“Eu viajarei amanhã.”	A synthetic, traditional form commonly used in formal writing
Immediate/periphrastic future	“Eu vou viajar amanhã.”	Very common in Brazilian speech
Construction with the gerund	“Eu vou estar viajando amanhã.”	May indicate a future action in progress; in certain contexts, it may be perceived as gerundismo or an undesirable speech habit

The choice among these forms depends on the context.

In a conversation among friends, it is perfectly natural to say:

“Amanhã eu vou viajar.”
“Tomorrow I’m going to travel.”

In a formal text, one might find:

“Amanhã viajarei para Brasília.”
“Tomorrow I will travel to Brasília.”

In a context emphasizing an action that will be in progress at a specific moment in the future, one may say:

“Amanhã, às dez horas, estarei viajando.”
“Tomorrow, at ten o’clock, I will be traveling.”

The three constructions, therefore, should not simply be treated as synonyms.