To talk about the future in Afrikaans you reach for a small helper word and leave the main verb in its plain form. There are two future auxiliaries — sal (will) and gaan (going to) — and they split the work almost exactly the way English splits will and going to. That parallel is a genuine gift: the nuance you already feel in English transfers straight across. On top of the two auxiliaries, Afrikaans also lets you use the plain present with a future time word, the same way English says I leave tomorrow. This page covers all three and shows you when each one is the natural choice.
sal — prediction, promise, willingness
sal is the all-purpose future auxiliary, closest to English will. You use it for predictions, promises, and offers — for any future event you are asserting or committing to. Like every Afrikaans auxiliary, sal does not change for the subject: ek sal, jy sal, hy sal, ons sal, hulle sal are all identical.
The structure is subject + sal + … + bare verb, with the main verb pushed to the end of the clause:
| Afrikaans | English |
|---|---|
| Ek sal help. | I'll help. |
| Ons sal sien. | We'll see. |
| Sy sal môre kom. | She'll come tomorrow. |
| Ek sal jou môre bel. | I'll call you tomorrow. |
Moenie bekommerd wees nie — ek sal jou help.
Don't worry — I'll help you.
Ek sal jou môre bel sodra ek by die werk is.
I'll call you tomorrow as soon as I'm at work.
Ek dink dit sal reën vanmiddag.
I think it'll rain this afternoon.
Notice in ek sal jou môre bel that the verb bel sits at the very end of the clause, after the object jou and the time word môre. The auxiliary sal holds the second position; the main verb waits at the back. This is the same verb-final bracket you meet across the Afrikaans tense system — see clause-final verbs.
gaan — plan, intention, imminent event
gaan is the going to future. You use it when there is a present plan, intention, or visible sign pointing toward the event — the future is already "in motion" from where you stand now. Structurally it works exactly like sal: it sits in second position and sends the main verb to the end. (And like sal, gaan never changes for the subject.)
| Afrikaans | English |
|---|---|
| Ek gaan werk. | I'm going to work / I'm going to do some work. |
| Dit gaan reën. | It's going to rain. |
| Jy gaan laat wees. | You're going to be late. |
| Ons gaan 'n huis koop. | We're going to buy a house. |
Kyk na daardie wolke — dit gaan reën.
Look at those clouds — it's going to rain.
As jy nou nie ry nie, gaan jy laat wees.
If you don't leave now, you're going to be late.
Ons gaan volgende jaar 'n huis koop.
We're going to buy a house next year.
sal vs gaan — transfer the English nuance
Because sal maps onto will and gaan maps onto going to, the distinction you already have in English carries over with surprising reliability. Compare:
| Situation | Afrikaans | English feel |
|---|---|---|
| On-the-spot offer | Ek sal die deur oopmaak. | I'll get the door. (deciding now) |
| Prior plan | Ek gaan die kombuis verf. | I'm going to paint the kitchen. (already planned) |
| Neutral prediction | Dit sal seker werk. | It'll probably work. |
| Prediction from evidence | Dit gaan nie werk nie. | It's not going to work. (you can see it) |
Wag, ek sal die deur oopmaak.
Wait, I'll get the door.
Hierdie naweek gaan ek die kombuis verf.
This weekend I'm going to paint the kitchen.
In many everyday sentences the two are genuinely interchangeable, just as English speakers often shrug between will and going to. Where the nuance matters, the rule of thumb is: spontaneous decision or pure prediction → sal; pre-existing plan or evidence in front of you → gaan. The decision guide sal vs gaan works through the borderline cases in detail.
The plain present for the future
Afrikaans, like English, often skips the future auxiliary altogether when a time word already makes the future clear. Ek werk môre literally reads I work tomorrow and is perfectly natural for a scheduled event. The present tense plus an unambiguous time adverb does the job.
Ek werk môre van agt tot vyf.
I'm working tomorrow from eight to five.
Die trein vertrek oor tien minute.
The train leaves in ten minutes.
Ons vlieg Vrydag Kaapstad toe.
We're flying to Cape Town on Friday.
This is most natural for fixed schedules and timetables — flights, trains, appointments — exactly the cases where English also drops will. For an open-ended prediction you would still prefer sal or gaan. The full account is on the present for the future.
sal also builds the conditional
One bonus to learning sal: its past-tense form is sou (would), and that form gives you the conditional. Ek sou help means I would help. So the work you put into sal pays off twice — once for the future, once for the conditional. The details, including the if-clause patterns, are on the conditional.
Ek sou jou gehelp het, maar ek het nie geweet nie.
I would have helped you, but I didn't know.
Common mistakes
❌ Ek sal bel jou môre.
Incorrect — the bare verb goes to the end: Ek sal jou môre bel.
✅ Ek sal jou môre bel.
I'll call you tomorrow.
❌ Dit gaan te reën.
Incorrect — no te before the verb after gaan; just the bare verb.
✅ Dit gaan reën.
It's going to rain.
❌ Sy sallen môre kom.
Incorrect — sal never takes an ending; it's the same for every subject.
✅ Sy sal môre kom.
She'll come tomorrow.
❌ Ek sal gaan môre werk.
Incorrect — don't stack sal and gaan; pick one auxiliary.
✅ Ek gaan môre werk.
I'm going to work tomorrow.
Key takeaways
- Afrikaans has two future auxiliaries: sal (will — prediction, promise, on-the-spot decision) and gaan (going to — plan, intention, evidence in front of you).
- Both sit in second position and push the bare main verb to the end of the clause: Ek sal jou môre bel, Dit gaan reën.
- Neither auxiliary inflects — ek sal / sy sal, ek gaan / hulle gaan are invariable.
- The sal/gaan split mirrors English will/going-to, so you can transfer the nuance directly.
- The plain present + a time word (Ek werk môre) is a third, lighter way to mark the future, best for schedules — see the present for the future.
- sal has the preterite sou, which builds the conditional (Ek sou help) — see the conditional.
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- The Conditional: souB1 — How Afrikaans says 'would' — sou (the past of sal) for hypotheticals and polite requests, sou + perfect for past counterfactuals, and the stacked sou wou / sou kon politeness construction.
- sal vs gaan (future)A2 — Afrikaans builds the future with two auxiliaries — sal for predictions, promises and willingness, gaan for intentions, plans and imminent events — and the split maps almost exactly onto English 'will' vs 'going to'.
- Using the Present for the FutureA2 — Afrikaans, like English, freely uses the plain present tense with a time word to talk about scheduled and planned future events — ek bel jou later, die winkel maak môre oop — so you can often skip sal and gaan entirely.