present prospectivo Flashcards
Use:
In colloquial Spanish especially, the present tense is frequently used to refer to the future (presente prospectivo or pro futuro1).
The present tense can sound rather direct and even rude to the British ear, especially when making a request or asking for help, but it is far more common to say “¿Me pones un café?” than “¿Podría ponerme un café, por favor?”. [See also Present tense uses]
Confusion
however, there is a grey area between present and future tenses when making declarations about future events, including predictions, promises and unplanned decisions.
In general, the present tense is highly favoured in spoken Spanish, whereas the future predominates in written Spanish, where facts are presented more objectively.
the present tense brings the event into the present and presents it as being more of a fact than a prediction; this has the effect of making the statement more emphatic, decisive and generally more subjective.
Bear in mind that when using the present to refer to the future, generally speaking, there must be some kind of time marker or other reference to the future to avoid confusion with the present. This could be an adverb of time, e.g. luego, ahora, después, etc.; another adverb, e.g. seguro, fijo, etc.; or another reference which allows us to understand the future meaning.
Shall we go out tonight (suggestion)
¿Salimos está noche?
Asking advice or opinion
What will I do? Shall I call him?
¿Qué hago? ¿Lo llamo?
Offer help
Will I help you?
¿Te ayudo?
Requests
Could you lend me that pen please?
¿Me dejas ese bolígrafo porfi?
Could I have a coffee?
¿Me pones un café?
Threats
If you don’t pay me, I’ll kill you
Como no me pagues, te mato
Orders [Presente de mandato]
You, keep quiet
Tú te callas
Planned, arranged or scheduled events -especially with verbs of motion such as ir, venir, llegar, salir. In English we often use the present continuous for arrangements and the present simple for scheduled events:
Juan is coming tomorrow [≈John va a venir]
Juan viene mañana
Juan was coming the following day, so we prepared the guest room [In the past, the imperfecto prospectivo is used for future events viewed from the past]
Juan venía al día siguiente, así que preparamos la habitación de invitados —
Juan came the next day
Juan vino al día siguiente
This weekend we’re playing in Malaga
Este finde jugamos en Málaga
The bus arrives at 6pm tomorrow [Scheduled]
-El autobús llega a las 6 p.m. mañana — The bus arrives at 6pm tomorrow [Scheduled]
They’re bound to call you
Seguro que te llaman
I’ll do it in a minute
Ahora lo hago
