If you walk into a café in Madrid and listen to a group of friends planning their weekend, every other sentence will start with voy a, vamos a, or vais a. This is ir a + infinitivo — the periphrastic future — and in spoken peninsular Spanish it is the default way of talking about plans, intentions, and anything you are about to do. The morphological future (estudiaré, comeré) exists and is alive, but for ordinary near-future talk in Spain, this construction has quietly taken over.
The good news: it is built from pieces an A1 learner already has. Ir (to go) in the present, the preposition a, and any infinitive. That is the whole recipe.
The structure
The construction has three slots, always in this order:
- The verb ir conjugated in the present indicative, matching the subject.
- The preposition a — never omitted, never replaced.
- An infinitive — the dictionary form of any verb (ending in -ar, -er, or -ir).
| Subject | ir (present) |
| Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | voy | voy a estudiar | I'm going to study |
| tú | vas | vas a estudiar | you're going to study |
| él / ella / usted | va | va a estudiar | he/she/you (formal) is going to study |
| nosotros / nosotras | vamos | vamos a estudiar | we're going to study |
| vosotros / vosotras | vais | vais a estudiar | you (all) are going to study |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | van | van a estudiar | they / you (formal plural) are going to study |
Voy a estudiar esta tarde.
I'm going to study this afternoon.
¿Qué vais a hacer este fin de semana?
What are you (all) going to do this weekend?
Va a llover, mira las nubes.
It's going to rain, look at the clouds.
The preposition a is non-negotiable
The single biggest pitfall for English speakers is dropping the a. English says "I'm going to eat" (only one preposition). Spanish says voy a comer — and the a is mandatory, even when the next word starts with a vowel, even when the infinitive is itself ir.
Voy a ir al supermercado luego.
I'm going to go to the supermarket later.
Vamos a hacer la cena.
We're going to make dinner.
What this construction actually expresses
Ir a + infinitivo covers a wide range of future meanings that overlap with English "going to" and "will."
Immediate intentions
Something you have just decided or are about to do.
Voy a llamar a mi madre, espera un momento.
I'm going to call my mum, wait a sec.
Vamos a salir un rato, ¿te apuntas?
We're going out for a bit, want to join?
Planned events
Arrangements that already exist on your calendar.
El viernes vamos a cenar con los abuelos.
On Friday we're having dinner with the grandparents.
En verano voy a visitar a mi hermana en Valencia.
In summer I'm going to visit my sister in Valencia.
Predictions based on present evidence
When something visible right now lets you forecast what comes next.
Mira cómo corre — va a llegar el primero.
Look at him run — he's going to finish first.
Vas a romper el bolígrafo si lo aprietas tanto.
You're going to break the pen if you press that hard.
Announcing what you're about to say
A discourse-organising "framing" use that is everywhere in spoken Spain.
Os voy a contar una cosa, pero no se lo digáis a nadie.
I'm going to tell you (all) something, but don't tell anyone.
Te voy a hacer una pregunta.
I'm going to ask you a question.
The vosotros form: vais a
In Spain, when you address a group informally, you use vosotros / vosotras and the form is vais a + infinitivo. Latin American Spanish uses van a instead (the ustedes form) for the same situation, so hearing vais a in conversation is a clear peninsular marker.
¿A qué hora vais a venir mañana?
What time are you (all) going to come tomorrow?
Si vais a llegar tarde, mandadme un mensaje.
If you're going to be late, send me a message.
English speakers often default to a third-person plural in such contexts, which to a Spaniard sounds oddly stiff or geographically displaced. Using vais a with friends, family, or anyone in a casual setting is the natural choice in Spain.
Ir a + infinitive vs ir a + place
Spanish ir can also mean to physically go somewhere, and that use also takes the preposition a — followed by a noun rather than an infinitive. Don't let the surface similarity confuse you.
Voy a Madrid mañana.
I'm going to Madrid tomorrow. (destination — a noun follows 'a')
Voy a coger el tren mañana.
I'm going to catch the train tomorrow. (future intention — an infinitive follows 'a')
The distinction is purely about what follows a: a noun (or noun phrase with an article) signals a destination; an infinitive signals a future action. Spanish is perfectly comfortable combining both in one sentence:
Voy a la playa a tomar el sol.
I'm going to the beach to sunbathe.
Here the first a la playa is the destination and the second a tomar el sol expresses purpose ("in order to sunbathe"). Two *a*s, two different jobs.
Pronoun placement: two equally good options
When the sentence has object or reflexive pronouns, you have a choice: put them before the conjugated ir or attach them to the end of the infinitive. Both are correct, both are common, and both mean exactly the same thing.
Te voy a llamar mañana.
I'm going to call you tomorrow. (pronoun before ir)
Voy a llamarte mañana.
I'm going to call you tomorrow. (pronoun attached to infinitive)
Nos vamos a duchar y bajamos.
We're going to shower and we'll come down. (reflexive before ir)
Vamos a ducharnos y bajamos.
We're going to shower and we'll come down. (reflexive attached to infinitive)
When pronouns stack, they stay together as a unit. You can place the whole cluster before ir or after the infinitive, but you cannot split them.
Te lo voy a explicar mañana.
I'll explain it to you tomorrow.
Voy a explicártelo mañana.
I'll explain it to you tomorrow. (note the written accent on -plicár-)
Negation and questions
Negate by putting no before the whole construction. Don't try to slot it between ir and the infinitive.
No voy a salir esta noche, estoy cansado.
I'm not going out tonight, I'm tired.
No vamos a comprar coche este año.
We're not going to buy a car this year.
For questions, Spanish uses intonation — no auxiliary-verb shuffling like English requires.
¿Vas a venir a la fiesta?
Are you going to come to the party?
¿Qué le vas a regalar a tu hermano?
What are you going to give your brother?
How ir a + infinitive differs from the simple future (estudiaré)
Both voy a estudiar and estudiaré mean "I'm going to / I will study." So when do you pick one over the other? In spoken peninsular Spanish:
- Use ir a + infinitivo for plans, near-future events, and anything tied to the present moment. Voy a salir — I'm about to leave. El sábado vamos a cenar fuera — we're eating out on Saturday.
- Use the simple future (saldré, cenaré) for predictions, distant events, formal promises, and probability about the present (serán las cinco — it must be five). In news headlines and weather forecasts, the simple future dominates: Mañana lloverá en el norte.
For everyday conversation, ir a + infinitivo is by far the more frequent choice. The simple future hasn't disappeared — it's just been narrowed to specific jobs.
(spoken, planned) Mañana vamos a comer en casa de mis padres.
Tomorrow we're eating at my parents' place.
(weather forecast, formal register) Mañana lloverá en toda la península.
Tomorrow it will rain across the entire peninsula.
Telling the time of the action
You can sharpen the meaning by adding a time expression. Voy a + infinitive feels most natural with phrases that point toward the immediate future or a near-term plan.
| Time phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ahora mismo / ya | right now / already (about to) |
| luego / más tarde | later / later on |
| esta tarde / esta noche | this afternoon / tonight |
| mañana / pasado mañana | tomorrow / the day after |
| la semana que viene | next week |
| el mes que viene | next month |
| en verano / en Navidad | in summer / at Christmas |
Voy a salir ahora mismo.
I'm leaving right now.
La semana que viene vamos a empezar un curso de yoga.
Next week we're starting a yoga course.
Common Mistakes
❌ Voy comer ahora.
Incorrect — missing the preposition 'a'.
✅ Voy a comer ahora.
I'm going to eat now.
❌ Voy a estudio mañana.
Incorrect — the second verb must be the infinitive, not a conjugated form.
✅ Voy a estudiar mañana.
I'm going to study tomorrow.
❌ ¿Qué van a hacer vosotros este fin de semana?
Incorrect — for vosotros use 'vais', not 'van' (in Spain).
✅ ¿Qué vais a hacer este fin de semana?
What are you (all) going to do this weekend?
❌ Voy ir al cine.
Incorrect — needs 'a' even when the infinitive is itself 'ir'.
✅ Voy a ir al cine.
I'm going to go to the cinema.
❌ Lo voy hacer mañana.
Incorrect — pronoun placement is fine, but 'a' is still missing.
✅ Lo voy a hacer mañana.
I'm going to do it tomorrow.
❌ Yo vamos a comer.
Incorrect — 'ir' must agree with the subject; 'yo' takes 'voy'.
✅ Yo voy a comer.
I'm going to eat.
Key Takeaways
- Ir a + infinitivo is the default future in spoken peninsular Spanish — use it for plans, intentions, and near-future events.
- The structure is rigid: present-tense ir
- a + infinitive
- The vosotros form is vais a + infinitivo — a clear peninsular marker; Latin American Spanish would use van a.
- Pronouns can go before ir (te voy a ver) or attach to the infinitive (voy a verte); both are equally good.
- Don't confuse ir a + infinitive (a future action) with ir a + place (physical movement). The clue is what follows a: a verb or a noun.
- For predictions, forecasts, and formal contexts, the simple future (lloverá, serán) is preferred; for everyday plans, ir a + infinitivo wins.
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Start learning Spanish→Related Topics
- Futuro perifrástico: ir a + infinitivoA1 — The workhorse future of spoken peninsular Spanish — how to use 'ir a + infinitivo' for plans, intentions, and near-future events.
- Cómo expresar el futuroB1 — Spanish has four live ways to talk about the future, and they are not interchangeable. The synthetic future (hablaré) for predictions and conjecture, ir a + infinitive (voy a hablar) for everyday plans, the present indicative with a time marker for scheduled events, and modal periphrases (tengo que, debo, quiero) for nuanced future intent. The decision logic, the peninsular preferences, and the conjecture-future that English cannot translate.
- Verbos seguidos de 'a' + infinitivoB1 — Verbs that lexically require 'a' before an infinitive — empezar a, aprender a, ayudar a, atreverse a — usually involve motion, initiation, learning or commitment toward an action.
- Futuro simple: verbos regularesA2 — The Spanish simple future for regular verbs — endings -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án attached to the whole infinitive, the accents that are obligatory on every form except nosotros, and why ir a + infinitive often wins in everyday peninsular speech.
- Futuro simple vs ir a + infinitivoB1 — How to pick between the two main Spanish futures — the morphological future (lloverá, te llamaré) and the periphrastic ir a + infinitivo (voy a llamarte). A decision guide for peninsular Spanish, where ir a dominates speech and the simple future dominates print.