Ir a + infinitive: plans and predictions

What it is

Ir a + infinitive is the Spanish "going to": Voy a cocinar (I'm going to cook). It is the everyday way to talk about plans, intentions and predictions, and in Latin American conversation it is by far the most common way to talk about the future. All you need is the present of ir (to go), which you already know from Voy al trabajo.

How to form it

Conjugate ir for the person, add a, then put the second verb in the infinitive. Only ir changes.

• No goes before ir: No voy a salir esta noche.
• Questions keep the same order: ¿Qué vas a hacer el sábado?
• Time words go at the start or the end, never inside the chain: Mañana voy a cocinar or Voy a cocinar mañana.
• A reflexive pronoun goes before ir or on the end of the infinitive: Me voy a acostar = Voy a acostarme. Other pronouns work the same way (Te voy a llamar); you will practise them at A2.

In Spain you will also hear vosotros vais a salir.

Time words: esta tarde, esta noche, mañana, pasado mañana (the day after tomorrow), el sábado (on Saturday, no preposition), este fin de semana, el próximo lunes or el lunes que viene, la semana que viene, el año que viene.

When to use it

• Plans and intentions: what you have decided to do.
• Predictions from what you can see or know now: dark clouds mean rain.
• "Let's": ¡Vamos a bailar! can mean "we're going to dance" or "let's dance"; context decides. Vamos a ver is the everyday "let's see".
• Asking about plans and inviting: ¿Vas a venir a la fiesta?

• Este fin de semana voy a visitar a mis abuelos.This weekend I'm going to visit my grandparents.a plan
• Mira esas nubes: va a llover.Look at those clouds: it's going to rain.a prediction
• ¡Vamos a bailar!Let's dance!vamos a = let's
• —¿Qué vas a hacer esta noche? —Voy a ir al cine.—What are you doing tonight? —I'm going to the cinema.voy a ir is normal
• Mis primos no van a venir el sábado.My cousins aren't going to come on Saturday.no + ir

Contrasts and traps

• Keep the a: Voy a viajar, never voy viajar.
• Only one verb is conjugated: Vamos a cenar, never vamos a cenamos.
• ir a + place or ir a + infinitive: Voy al cine (a + el = al), Voy a ver una película, and Voy a ir al cine, with two as, which is perfectly normal.
• Present or ir a? For a fixed arrangement the present also works: Mañana trabajo. For intentions and predictions, use ir a.
• The simple future (viajaré, lloverá) comes later. In everyday Latin American speech ir a is far more frequent; the simple future sounds more formal.

If you also speak Portuguese

The structure is the same as vou viajar, but Spanish needs the a: voy a viajar. Watch the forms (vou → voy, vai → va, vão → van), say vamos for a gente vai (la gente means "people"), and drop the em of spoken Portuguese: no sábado → el sábado, vou na praia → voy a la playa.