Near Future: ir + Infinitive

📌 Nota gramatical

To express an action that will happen very soon in Portuguese, use the present indicative of the verb 'ir' (to go) followed directly by the main verb in its infinitive form. This construction is identical to 'going to + verb' in English and is extremely common in spoken European Portuguese.

📌 Nota gramatical

The first-person singular form of 'ir' is 'vou'. Combined with an infinitive, it expresses your immediate personal plans.

📌 Nota gramatical

In European Portuguese, the informal second-person singular pronoun 'tu' requires the verb form 'vais'. Keep the pronoun 'tu' for clarity or drop it since the verb ending makes it clear.

📌 Nota gramatical

For he, she, or the polite formal address 'o senhor' / 'a senhora', use the form 'vai'. This form is identical for both singular formal and informal third-person contexts.

📌 Nota gramatical

The first-person plural form of 'ir' is 'vamos'. In European Portuguese, 'vamos' + infinitive is often used in everyday speech instead of the synthetic future tense to talk about what 'we' are going to do.

📌 Nota gramatical

For plural subjects (they, or 'vocês' used widely in Portugal for group addresses), use the form 'vão' followed by the main verb's infinitive.

📌 Nota gramatical

To make a near future sentence negative, place the negative particle 'não' directly before the conjugated form of 'ir'.

📌 Nota gramatical

In spoken European Portuguese, questions using 'ir + infinitive' are formed with rising intonation on the same word order as affirmative sentences, or by adding question words at the beginning.

📌 Nota gramatical

In European Portuguese, when using an unstressed object pronoun with 'ir + infinitive', you can either attach it to the infinitive (dropping the final -r) or place it before 'ir' if a trigger word (like 'não') is present.

📌 Nota gramatical

The near future is frequently paired with specific time markers indicating immediate or upcoming time, such as 'amanhã' (tomorrow), 'logo' (later today), or 'daqui a pouco' (in a little while).

📌 Nota gramatical

While the present tense can sometimes indicate future actions in Portuguese, 'ir + infinitive' explicitly emphasizes intent, plan, or a certainty that an event is approaching soon.

📌 Nota gramatical

Impersonal weather verbs like 'chover' (to rain) or 'fazer' (in weather idioms) can also take 'ir' to predict imminent weather changes in daily life.