Futuro do presente (recognition + formal use)

The short answer

Portuguese has a one-word future, the futuro do presente: falarei, fará, partiremos. You will read and hear it in news, announcements, contracts, weather forecasts and formal promises. In conversation Brazilians almost always use ir + infinitive instead: Vou te ligar amanhã, not Te ligarei amanhã. The big exception is será que…?, the everyday way to say "I wonder…".

How to form it

Take the whole infinitive and add the endings. They are the same for -ar, -er and -ir verbs.

• Only three short stems: fazer → far- (farei, fará), dizer → dir- (direi, dirá), trazer → trar- (trarei, trará).
• Everything else is regular: terei, poderei, sairei, virei, saberei, quererei, verei; pôr → porei (no circumflex); haver → haverá, "there will be".
• Accents: the ending is stressed, so write the accent: fará, será, falará.

When to use it

• Announcements and notices: O voo partirá às 22h do portão 5. A loja abrirá às nove.
• News and forecasts: Amanhã choverá no litoral. O metrô funcionará até a meia-noite.
• Formal promises, letters and emails: Farei o possível. Enviaremos os documentos por e-mail.
• Wondering: Será que vai chover? means "I wonder if it's going to rain." Será? on its own means "Really? Do you think so?". A guess about the present also works, a bit literary: Onde estará a Ana?
• Set phrases: Veremos (we'll see), Quem viver verá (time will tell).

• O voo partirá às 22h do portão 5.The flight will depart at 10 p.m. from gate 5.announcement
• Amanhã fará calor em todo o Nordeste.Tomorrow it will be hot across the Northeast.forecast
• Será que ele vem hoje?I wonder if he's coming today.wondering
• Vou te ligar amanhã.I'll call you tomorrow.what you say in conversation

Contrasts and traps

• Conversation uses ir + infinitive or the present: Amanhã eu te ligo or Vou te ligar amanhã. Te ligarei sounds like a formal letter, and Farei um bolo sounds like a speech.
• -ram vs -rão: falaram is the past (they spoke), stressed on the stem; falarão is the future (they will speak), stressed on the end. Look for the tilde.
• será que + any tense: Será que ela já chegou? Será que vai dar tempo? The verb after que is not in the future.
• Pronouns go before the verb in Brazil, even in formal writing: Ele nos avisará. Old or very formal texts may put the pronoun inside the verb (far-se-á); for now, just recognise it.

If you speak Spanish

The endings look familiar but differ: hablaré → falarei, hablarán → falarão. The big change is in the irregular verbs: Spanish has many, Portuguese only three. So tendré → terei, podré → poderei, saldré → sairei, vendré → virei, pondré → porei, sabré → saberei, habrá → haverá, while haré is farei, with an f. In speech, voy a hablar is vou falar, with no a.