If ska is the future you decided on, kommer att is the future that just happens. It is Swedish's neutral, objective way of predicting: rain, consequences, reactions, the slow inevitabilities of life. The subject of a kommer att sentence doesn't have to want or arrange the outcome — often they can't control it at all. Det kommer att regna ("it's going to rain"); Du kommer att ångra det ("you're going to regret it"). This page covers the form (including the att that learners drop too readily), the meaning, and the line that separates it from ska.
Form: kommer att + infinitive
The construction is kommer + att + the infinitive. The word kommer here is literally "comes" (the present of komma, "to come"), but the whole phrase has grammaticalized into a future marker — you're not really saying anyone "comes" anywhere. (For komma as an ordinary motion verb, see komma: full conjugation.)
Det kommer att snöa i natt.
It's going to snow tonight. kommer + att + infinitive 'snöa'.
Priserna kommer att stiga nästa år.
Prices are going to rise next year. A neutral economic prediction.
Like all the future tools, kommer doesn't change for person: jag kommer att, du kommer att, vi kommer att are all the same.
The att is obligatory — in writing
This is the form detail learners get wrong most. Unlike ska (which takes a bare infinitive), kommer in its future sense requires att before the infinitive in careful and written Swedish. The reason is that kommer is not a modal verb — it's the lexical verb komma pressed into future duty — and Swedish links a lexical verb to a following infinitive with att.
Du kommer att förstå det här en dag.
You're going to understand this one day. The 'att' is required in writing — it's not a modal.
Vi kommer att behöva mer tid.
We're going to need more time. kommer att + 'behöva'.
…but spoken Swedish drops it
In ordinary fast speech, Swedes routinely drop the att — Det kommer regna, Hon kommer bli arg. This is completely normal and you'll hear it constantly. It is, however, a feature of casual speech, not writing. When you write — an email, an essay, anything formal — put the att back in.
Det kommer regna sen, sa han.
It's gonna rain later, he said. (informal/spoken) The dropped 'att' is natural in casual speech.
Enligt prognosen kommer det att regna under helgen.
According to the forecast, it's going to rain over the weekend. (written) The 'att' stays in.
Meaning 1: forecasts and predictions
The cleanest case: a prediction about something no one controls. Weather is the textbook example, but anything you simply expect to happen fits.
Det kommer att regna i eftermiddag.
It's going to rain this afternoon. A forecast — no one decided it.
Matchen kommer att bli jämn.
The match is going to be close. A prediction about how something will turn out.
Meaning 2: inevitable consequences
kommer att is the natural way to state a consequence that will follow whether or not the subject wants it — warnings, logical results, things you can see coming.
Du kommer att ångra det.
You're going to regret it. An inevitable consequence the listener doesn't intend.
Om du inte sover kommer du att vara trött imorgon.
If you don't sleep, you're going to be tired tomorrow. A predicted result.
Meaning 3: things outside the subject's will
Reactions, feelings, ageing, processes — futures that happen to the subject rather than by them. This is exactly where ska would be wrong.
Hon kommer att bli arg när hon får veta det.
She's going to be angry when she finds out. A reaction she doesn't choose.
Alla kommer att sakna dig.
Everyone's going to miss you. A feeling, not a decision.
The boundary: kommer att vs ska
The dividing line is will. If a person intends, plans, or arranged the future event, use ska. If the event is a prediction, consequence, or process outside anyone's control, use kommer att. The English will hides this completely, which is why you must think about it consciously.
Jag ska sluta röka, men jag kommer nog att misslyckas.
I'm going to quit smoking, but I'll probably fail. 'ska sluta' = my intention; 'kommer att misslyckas' = my honest prediction.
Using kommer att for your own firm plan isn't ungrammatical, but it can sound oddly fatalistic — as if your own holiday were happening to you. For something you've decided, ska is usually the better fit. The full side-by-side is on Choosing: ska vs kommer att.
Common Mistakes
❌ Hon kommer bli arg. (in an email)
Incorrect in writing — 'kommer att' needs 'att'. Dropping it is for casual speech only.
✅ Hon kommer att bli arg.
She's going to be angry.
❌ Det kommer att regnar imorgon.
Incorrect — after 'att' you need the infinitive 'regna', not the present 'regnar'.
✅ Det kommer att regna imorgon.
It's going to rain tomorrow.
❌ Vi kommer ska resa till Italien.
Incorrect — don't stack the two futures. Pick one: ska (plan) or kommer att (prediction).
✅ Vi ska resa till Italien.
We're going to travel to Italy. (A plan, so ska.)
❌ Du kommer att gör det.
Incorrect — the infinitive of 'göra' is 'göra', not 'gör'.
✅ Du kommer att göra det.
You're going to do it.
Key Takeaways
- kommer att + infinitive is the neutral, objective future: predictions, inevitable consequences, and things outside the subject's will (Det kommer att regna, Du kommer att ångra det).
- att is obligatory in writing (because kommer is a lexical verb, not a modal) — but it's routinely dropped in casual speech (Det kommer regna).
- The boundary with ska is will: if a person decided it, use ska; if it just happens, use kommer att.
- The verb after att is always the infinitive (kommer att regna, not kommer att regnar).
- Don't stack futures (kommer ska) and don't confuse the two att-rules: ska + bare infinitive, kommer att + infinitive.
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- Talking About the FutureA2 — Swedish has NO separate future tense — no single 'will' verb. Instead it uses three tools: the plain present for scheduled or certain events (Vi åker imorgon), 'ska + infinitive' for intentions and plans (Jag ska resa till Spanien), and 'kommer att + infinitive' for predictions and inevitable outcomes (Det kommer att regna). The choice between ska and kommer att encodes a meaning English's single 'will' hides: intention versus neutral prediction.
- The Future with skaA2 — ska + a bare infinitive (no att) expresses the intended future: a plan, decision, or arrangement — Jag ska handla imorgon, Vi ska gifta oss. Because ska always carries a whiff of will and intention, it slides naturally into obligation and command (Du ska göra dina läxor), and it is WRONG for impersonal predictions like weather (use kommer att). The formal/older spelling is skall.
- komma (to come)A1 — The verb komma means 'to come' — double m in komma/kommer/kommit but a single m in the past kom. komma is a hub: it builds the future (kommer att + infinitive) and a set of everyday particle verbs — komma ihåg (remember), komma på (think of), komma fram (arrive).
- ska vs kommer attA2 — Swedish has two main ways to talk about the future, and they aren't interchangeable. ska expresses intention, a plan, a decision, or a promise — someone has WILLED it (Jag ska sluta röka, 'I'm going to quit smoking'). kommer att is a neutral prediction or an inevitable outcome no one controls (Det kommer att regna, 'It's going to rain'). The test: who controls the outcome? A decider → ska. An external inevitability → kommer att.