Ir + A + Infinitive

The construction ir + a + infinitive is by far the most common way to talk about the future in Latin American Spanish. It expresses actions that are about to happen, planned, or intended, and it works much like the English "going to" future.

In everyday speech, Latin American speakers almost always prefer this structure over the simple future tense, which sounds more formal or literary.

Formation

The formula is straightforward: conjugate ir in the present tense, add the preposition a, and follow it with an infinitive.

SubjectIr (present)
  • a + Infinitive
yovoyvoy a estudiar
túvasvas a estudiar
él/ella/ustedvava a estudiar
nosotrosvamosvamos a estudiar
ustedesvanvan a estudiar
ellos/ellasvanvan a estudiar

Voy a estudiar esta noche.

I'm going to study tonight.

¿Qué vas a hacer mañana?

What are you going to do tomorrow?

Near and Planned Future

This construction covers a wide range of future time frames, from "in a second" to "next year". The context and time markers tell the listener how far away the action is.

Vamos a viajar a Perú el próximo verano.

We're going to travel to Peru next summer.

Ya van a llegar los invitados.

The guests are about to arrive.

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In Latin America, vamos a + infinitive often doubles as a "let's..." suggestion, just like in English. Vamos a comer can mean both "we're going to eat" and "let's eat", depending on tone and context.

Common Time Markers

Certain adverbs and phrases pair naturally with this construction:

  • hoy (today), mañana (tomorrow), pasado mañana (the day after tomorrow)
  • esta tarde (this afternoon), esta noche (tonight)
  • la próxima semana (next week), el próximo mes (next month)
  • en un rato (in a little while), dentro de poco (soon)
  • pronto (soon), luego (later)

Esta tarde voy a llamar a mi mamá.

This afternoon I'm going to call my mom.

La próxima semana vamos a mudarnos de casa.

Next week we're going to move.

Imperfect Form: Was Going To

If you want to talk about something that was going to happen (but didn't, or seen from a past point of view), use ir in the imperfect: iba a + infinitive.

Iba a llamarte, pero me quedé sin batería.

I was going to call you, but my battery died.

Negative and Question Forms

To negate, place no before the conjugated form of ir. For questions, invert or simply add question marks around the statement.

No voy a ir a la fiesta esta noche.

I'm not going to go to the party tonight.

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Don't confuse this construction with the literal meaning of ir as "to go". Voy a la tienda means "I'm going to the store" (literal movement), while voy a comprar pan means "I'm going to buy bread" (future action).

Chained with Other Verbs

You can combine ir a with other periphrastic verbs, stacking meanings:

Voy a tener que trabajar el sábado.

I'm going to have to work on Saturday.

Compare this structure with acabar de + infinitive for the recent past, or empezar a + infinitive to express beginning an action.

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