You now know how to build the two grammatical futures. This page steps back and answers the harder question: out of everything Russian can do, which form should you actually use for a given future meaning? There are five live options, and they are not interchangeable. Two are the grammatical futures from the previous pages; the other three — the present tense, собира́ться, and the хоте́ть/плани́ровать family — are the constructions textbooks often skip but native speakers use constantly. Once you can map a meaning ("a definite plan," "a habit," "an intention") to the right form, you'll sound far more natural than a learner who reaches for бу́ду every time.
The five options at a glance
| Construction | Use it for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Perfective simple future | a single completed act, a result | Я позвоню́ ве́чером. |
| Imperfective compound future (бу́ду + inf.) | a process, a habit, an activity | Я бу́ду звони́ть ка́ждый день. |
| Present tense (+ time word) | a fixed schedule or an imminent definite plan | По́езд ухо́дит в семь. |
| собира́ться + infinitive | intention — "be going to / be about to" | Я собира́юсь купи́ть маши́ну. |
| хоте́ть / плани́ровать / реши́ть + inf. | wish, plan, decision | Мы плани́руем перее́хать. |
The rest of the page takes them one at a time. The two grammatical futures get only a brief recap here, because their morphology is fully covered on the perfective simple and imperfective compound pages.
1. Perfective simple future — completed acts
When you mean a single, finished action with a result, use the one-word perfective future (a perfective verb in present-tense endings). It's the form for promises, definite single plans, and steps in a sequence.
Я позвоню́ тебе́, как то́лько прие́ду.
I'll call you as soon as I arrive. — two perfective futures (позвоню́, прие́ду): two completed acts.
Я обяза́тельно сде́лаю э́то до конца́ неде́ли.
I'll definitely get this done by the end of the week. — сде́лаю, a completed result with a deadline.
2. Imperfective compound future — processes and habits
When you mean an ongoing process, a repetition, or a general activity, use бу́ду + an imperfective infinitive. It frames the future as the doing rather than the finishing.
Я бу́ду звони́ть тебе́ ка́ждый день, обеща́ю.
I'll call you every day, I promise. — repeated action → imperfective compound future.
Сле́дующий год мы бу́дем жить в дере́вне.
Next year we'll be living in the countryside. — an ongoing state framed as a process.
3. The present tense for the future — the option English speakers miss
Here is the construction that most surprises learners: Russian routinely uses the plain present tense to talk about the future, when the event is on a fixed schedule or is a definite, imminent plan. There is a time word doing the heavy lifting (за́втра, в семь, в сре́ду), and the present tense rides along.
This is especially the rule with motion verbs. To say "tomorrow I'm going / flying / leaving for X," Russians overwhelmingly use the present tense of a motion verb, not a future form at all. English does something parallel — "I'm flying to Moscow tomorrow" uses present-continuous-as-future — but Russian extends it much further.
За́втра я е́ду в Москву́.
Tomorrow I'm going to Moscow. — present tense of е́хать for a planned trip; far more natural than a future form.
В пя́тницу я лечу́ в Берли́н на конфере́нцию.
On Friday I'm flying to Berlin for a conference. — лечу́ (present of лете́ть), a fixed plan.
По́езд отхо́дит в 5:40, не опа́здывай.
The train leaves at 5:40, don't be late. — a timetabled event: present tense отхо́дит.
Магази́н открыва́ется в де́вять.
The shop opens at nine. — a fixed schedule, present tense.
Why the present? Because a scheduled event feels already settled — it is on the timetable now, so Russian treats it as a present fact with a future time stamp. Use this for trains, flights, appointments, opening hours, and announced plans. (For the motion verbs themselves, see идти́ / ходи́ть and е́хать / е́здить.)
4. собира́ться + infinitive — intention ("be going to")
To express intention — "I'm going to / I'm planning to / I'm about to" — Russian uses собира́ться plus an infinitive. This is the dedicated way to say you intend something, as opposed to flatly predicting it will happen. It carries the nuance of a decision you've made but not yet acted on.
Я собира́юсь купи́ть но́вую маши́ну в э́том году́.
I'm going to buy a new car this year. — собира́ться + infinitive: a settled intention.
Мы собира́емся пое́хать на мо́ре ле́том.
We're planning to go to the seaside this summer. — an intended plan, not a guarantee.
Я как раз собира́лся тебе́ позвони́ть!
I was just about to call you! — past of собира́ться = 'was about to,' the imminent-intention sense.
Note the difference from a plain future. Я куплю́ маши́ну predicts/promises the purchase as a fact; Я собира́юсь купи́ть маши́ну reports your intention to do so — softer, more about your state of mind. English blurs them both into "I'm going to," but Russian keeps собира́ться for the intention reading.
5. хоте́ть / плани́ровать / реши́ть + infinitive — wishes, plans, decisions
Finally, a family of "modal-ish" verbs takes an infinitive and points at the future through wanting, planning, or deciding:
- хоте́ть
- inf. — "want to" (a wish);
- плани́ровать
- inf. — "plan to" (a deliberate plan);
- реши́ть
- inf. — "decide to" (a decision just taken, pointing forward).
Ле́том я хочу́ съе́здить к роди́телям.
In the summer I want to visit my parents. — хоте́ть + perfective infinitive: a future wish.
Мы плани́руем откры́ть второ́й магази́н в сле́дующем году́.
We plan to open a second shop next year. — плани́ровать + infinitive, a deliberate plan.
Она́ реши́ла учи́ть кита́йский.
She's decided to study Chinese. — реши́ть + infinitive: a decision that projects into the future.
These don't replace the grammatical future — they layer an attitude (wish, plan, decision) on top of it. You'll often combine them: a stated plan (плани́рую) followed by the actual future acts (куплю́, открою).
How to choose: a quick decision path
| If you mean… | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| one finished action / a promise | perfective simple future | Я сде́лаю это. |
| a process or a habit | бу́ду + imperfective infinitive | Я бу́ду рабо́тать. |
| a timetable / a firm near-future trip | present tense (+ time word) | За́втра я е́ду в Москву́. |
| an intention ("be going to") | собира́ться + infinitive | Я собира́юсь перее́хать. |
| a wish / plan / decision | хоте́ть / плани́ровать / реши́ть + inf. | Я хочу́ съе́здить домо́й. |
The single most useful habit to build: when the event is a definite scheduled plan, especially a trip, your first instinct should be a present-tense motion verb (За́втра я лечу́…), not a future form — that's the move that most quickly makes your Russian sound native.
Common Mistakes
❌ За́втра я бу́ду е́хать в Москву́.
Overbuilt — for a definite planned trip Russians use the present: За́втра я е́ду в Москву́. (бу́ду е́хать suggests a drawn-out 'will be en route.')
✅ За́втра я е́ду в Москву́.
Tomorrow I'm going to Moscow.
❌ По́езд бу́дет уходи́ть в семь.
Wrong — a timetabled event takes the present tense, not a future: По́езд ухо́дит в семь.
✅ По́езд ухо́дит в семь.
The train leaves at seven.
❌ Я собира́юсь куплю́ маши́ну.
Wrong — собира́ться takes an INFINITIVE, not a conjugated verb: собира́юсь купи́ть.
✅ Я собира́юсь купи́ть маши́ну.
I'm going to buy a car.
❌ Я бу́ду позвони́ть тебе́ за́втра.
Wrong — позвони́ть is perfective and can't take бу́ду; the future is the one word позвоню́.
✅ Я позвоню́ тебе́ за́втра.
I'll call you tomorrow.
❌ Я хочу́ съе́зжу к роди́телям.
Wrong — хоте́ть takes an infinitive, not a conjugated future: хочу́ съе́здить.
✅ Я хочу́ съе́здить к роди́телям.
I want to visit my parents.
Key Takeaways
- Five ways to talk about the future: perfective simple future, imperfective compound future, present tense, собира́ться + inf., and хоте́ть / плани́ровать / реши́ть + inf.
- Completed act → perfective simple (позвоню́); process/habit → бу́ду + imperfective (бу́ду звони́ть).
- Russian uses the present tense for scheduled or imminent definite plans, especially with motion verbs: За́втра я е́ду в Москву́; По́езд ухо́дит в семь.
- собира́ться + infinitive marks intention ("be going to / be about to"), distinct from a flat prediction.
- хоте́ть / плани́ровать / реши́ть + infinitive add a wish, plan, or decision — they all take an infinitive, never a conjugated verb.
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- The Perfective (Simple) FutureA2 — The perfective future is a single word: you conjugate a perfective verb with the ordinary present-tense endings (-у/-ю, -ешь/-ишь…) and the result means the FUTURE — прочита́ю 'I'll read (and finish),' напишу́ 'I'll write,' куплю́ 'I'll buy,' позвоню́ 'I'll call.' The trap is that these forms look exactly like a present tense, but a perfective verb has no present, so a conjugated perfective is always future. It names a single completed action with a result, a promise, or one step in a sequence.
- The Imperfective (Compound) FutureA2 — Russian builds the imperfective future from two words: the conjugated future of быть (бу́ду, бу́дешь, бу́дет, бу́дем, бу́дете, бу́дут) plus an imperfective infinitive — Я бу́ду чита́ть 'I'll be reading / I'll read.' Only the auxiliary бу́ду changes; the lexical verb stays in the infinitive forever. It expresses ongoing, repeated, or habitual future action, and it works ONLY with imperfectives (буду + a perfective is ungrammatical). The same бу́ду-forms also mean 'will be' on their own (Я бу́ду до́ма).
- Aspect in the Future: Simple vs CompoundB1 — Russian builds the future differently for each aspect, and that construction IS the future-aspect choice: the perfective future is SIMPLE (the perfective verb in present-tense endings — я прочита́ю 'I will read it'), the imperfective future is COMPOUND (бу́ду + imperfective infinitive — я бу́ду чита́ть 'I'll be reading'); the trap is that a perfective in present endings always means the future.
- Идти vs Ходить (Going on Foot)A2 — The single most frequent motion pair in Russian. ИДТИ́ (unidirectional) is a trip on foot in progress toward one goal — Я иду́ домо́й ('I'm on my way home') — and covers the planned near future (За́втра я иду́ в теа́тр). ХОДИ́ТЬ (multidirectional) covers habits, round trips, general walking ability, and 'attend' — Я хожу́ в спортза́л три ра́за в неде́лю. Plus the idioms идёт carries: Дождь идёт, Вре́мя идёт, Фильм идёт.
- Ехать vs Ездить (Going by Vehicle)A2 — The vehicle counterpart to идти́/ходи́ть. Е́ХАТЬ (unidirectional) is one trip by vehicle, in progress or planned — Я е́ду в Москву́, Куда́ вы е́дете? Е́ЗДИТЬ (multidirectional) is habitual trips and past round trips — Я ка́ждый год е́зжу к роди́телям; В про́шлом году́ я е́здил в Япо́нию ('I went and came back'). Russian obligatorily distinguishes foot from vehicle, and the imperative is the irregular поезжа́й — never *ехай.
- Using the Present TenseA1 — One imperfective present form does the work of several English structures: ongoing action (Я чита́ю 'I'm reading'), habit (Я чита́ю ка́ждый день 'I read every day'), general truths, scheduled near-future (По́езд идёт в пять), and — the top transfer trap — duration still in progress, where English uses the present perfect: Я живу́ здесь два го́да 'I have lived here for two years'. Perfective verbs have no present; their present-shaped forms are future.