Ir a in Spanish means 'going to'. Conjugate ir in the present (voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van), add a, then any infinitive: voy a comer, I'm going to eat. It is the future form native speakers use most in conversation, for plans, intentions and anything happening soon.
ir (present) + a + infinitive = going to- The 'ir a + infinitive' structure
- Talk about near-future plans
- Ir a vs the simple future
"Ir a" in Spanish is the fastest way to talk about the future — and the one native speakers use most. Voy a comer, I'm going to eat. Vamos a ver, we're going to see. You need one verb you probably already know, the word a, and any infinitive. No new endings. You can be making future sentences in the next five minutes.
In 40 years of teaching, I have never met a student who couldn't learn this in one sitting. What I have met is students who skip it because it "isn't a real tense" — and then struggle with the simple future for months while the easy tool sits unused. Don't be that student. This is how Spanish speakers actually talk about tomorrow.
The big pictureWhen to use ir a in Spanish
The ir a + infinitive construction (often called the near future, el futuro próximo) is the exact mirror of English "going to." Use it for:
- Plans and intentions — Este verano vamos a viajar a Perú. (This summer we're going to travel to Peru.) Something you've decided.
- The near future — Voy a llamar a mi madre. (I'm going to call my mom.) Anything happening soon, from "in a second" to "next month."
- Predictions with evidence — Mira esas nubes. Va a llover. (Look at those clouds. It's going to rain.) You can see it coming.
- "Let's" — Vamos a empezar. (Let's begin.) The nosotros form doubles as a suggestion.
In everyday conversation, ir a covers almost every future sentence you'll need. The simple future (comeré) still matters — for promises, predictions, formal writing — but you can survive a whole trip on voy a.
The patternHow to form it: ir (present) + a + infinitive
Three pieces. Only the first one changes.
| Subject | IR (present) | + a + infinitive | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | voy | voy a estudiar | I'm going to study |
| tú | vas | vas a comer | you're going to eat |
| él / ella / usted | va | va a trabajar | he / she is going to work |
| nosotros / nosotras | vamos | vamos a salir | we're going to go out |
| vosotros / vosotras (Spain) | vais | vais a ver | you all are going to see |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | van | van a llegar | they're going to arrive |
Ir is irregular in the present — nothing in voy, vas, va looks like "ir" — but it's six short words, and you'll use them hundreds of times.
The infinitive never changes: voy a comer, vas a comer, van a comer. And the a is not optional — it's the glue. Voy comer is a mistake I hear every week, usually from students who speak fast. Slow down for the a.
Time expressions that go with ir a
These are the words that point the sentence forward. Put them at the beginning or the end:
- hoy / esta noche / esta tarde — today / tonight / this afternoon
- mañana / pasado mañana — tomorrow / the day after tomorrow
- la semana que viene / el mes que viene / el año que viene — next week / next month / next year (also la próxima semana)
- este fin de semana / este verano — this weekend / this summer
- más tarde / luego / después / pronto — later / then / afterwards / soon
- en dos horas / en tres días — in two hours / in three days
Pair every new infinitive you learn with voy a. Learned cocinar? Say Esta noche voy a cocinar. Learned descansar? El domingo voy a descansar. You practice vocabulary and the future at the same time, and you never have to conjugate the new verb.
Real SpanishIr a examples in real situations
From the classroomCommon mistakes English speakers make
- Dropping the a. Voy comer is the number one error. The construction is ir + a + infinitive, every time. Practice it as one word: voya, vasa, vaa.
- Conjugating the second verb. Voy a como is wrong. Only ir is conjugated; the main verb stays an infinitive: voy a comer.
- Using estar + gerund for the future. "I'm leaving tomorrow" is Mañana me voy or Mañana voy a salir — never estoy saliendo mañana. The present progressive in Spanish only describes right now.
- Forgetting that "vamos a" can mean "let's." Vamos a ver is both "we're going to see" and "let's see." Context decides, and natives use it constantly.
Don't confuseIr a vs the simple future
Both are correct, both are common, and in many sentences they're interchangeable. The difference is one of habitat, not correctness:
| Feature | Ir a + infinitive | Simple future |
|---|---|---|
| Form | voy a comer | comeré |
| English | I'm going to eat | I will eat |
| Feels like | a plan, something decided, something soon | a prediction, a promise, a more distant or formal future |
| Where you hear it | conversation, all day long | writing, news, promises, speculation |
| Example | Esta noche voy a cocinar. — Tonight I'm going to cook. | Algún día cocinaré como mi abuela. — One day I'll cook like my grandmother. |
Learn ir a first, then add the simple future. The endings and irregular stems are all in the Spanish future tense guide.
Because ir a is built on the present tense of ir, it belongs to the same toolkit as everything in the Spanish present tense guide — one present-tense verb, and the whole future opens up. To see how it sits alongside the simple future, the future continuous, and the rest, browse all the Spanish tenses in one place.
PracticeQuick quiz: ir a in spanish
Six questions from the lesson. Answer in your head, then open to check.
