quand + Future: The Tense English Refuses

Here is a sentence every English speaker produces without thinking: when I arrive, I will call you. Look at the first half. The arrival has not happened. It is unambiguously in the future. And the verb is in the present.

English does this everywhere and never explains itself. Inside a when clause, a before clause, an as soon as clause, English installs a present tense and lets the main verb carry all the timing. French does not. If the event is in the future, the verb goes in a future tense, in both halves:

j', t'appellerai. (When I arrive, I will call you.)

The future tense page states the rule in a line. This page is about everything that follows from it: the full conjunction list, the choice between the two future tenses, the conjunction that refuses the rule, and what happens when the whole sentence moves into the past.

The conjunctions that take a future

They are the time conjunctions, and they are worth learning as a set.

Conjunction	English
,	when
, aussitôt	as soon as
	once
,	as long as
	after
à	as (gradually)

Each one, with a future event, takes a future verb:

Lorsqu' , . (When he is ready, we will go out.)
, on . (As soon as you are here, we will start.)
' pleuvra, à . (As long as it rains, I will stay at home.)
train , . (Once the train leaves, it will be too late.)

The main clause is not obliged to be a future. An imperative is extremely common, and so is a present:

, -. (When you arrive, call me.)
, . (As soon as you have finished, you are free.)

What matters is the subordinate clause. That is the one English gets wrong.

Which future: the sequencing choice

Once you accept that the clause takes a future, a second question appears, and it is the interesting half of the topic. simple, or antérieur?

The test is whether the first action has to be over before the second can start.

, -. (When you arrive, call me.) - the arriving and the calling are one moment. Futur simple.
, on . (When you have finished, we will leave.) - nobody moves until the job is complete. Futur antérieur.

Two more pairs, to show that the difference is real and not decorative:

, . (When she leaves, I will be sad.) - sad at the moment of leaving.
, . (When she has gone, I will be sad.) - sad afterwards, in the empty room.
' , - m'. (As soon as he gets in, tell him to call me.)
' , . (As soon as he is back, we will be able to eat.)

Some conjunctions lean one way by their own meaning. , and all say "this thing is done", so they attract the antérieur. says "this thing is still going on", so it attracts the simple and sits very awkwardly with the other one. is neutral and takes whichever the meaning needs, which is exactly why is the one worth practising.

And note that English gives you a clue you should ignore. English marks the completed one with a present perfect - "when you have finished" - and the simultaneous one with a plain present. That mapping is reliable enough to be useful, but do not translate the tense: translate the timing.

The futur proche is not part of this

plus an infinitive is a perfectly good future, but it does not belong in these clauses. Quand tu vas arriver is not how French says it. After a time conjunction, use the simple or the antérieur, even in the loosest speech. The main clause is free to use the futur proche if it likes: , chose.

si is not in the club

This is the trap, because if and when feel like neighbours in English. A conditional takes the present, and never a future:

arrives à l', on . (If you arrive on time, we will leave together.)
, on . (When you arrive, we will leave together.)

Two sentences with the same shape, the same meaning of "arrive", and two different tenses, decided entirely by which conjunction opens the clause. The full three-type system, and the golden rule that no future or conditional ever follows a conditional si, is on the si clauses page.

The one si that does take a future is the si meaning whether, which is a different word: .

When the whole sentence is in the past

The rule is not really about the future at all. It is about French marking the tense of the subordinate clause honestly. So move the sentence into the past and the clause moves with it.

arrivé, a . (When he arrived, he called.) - ordinary past narrative.
j' , à Lyon. (When I was ten, we lived in Lyon.)
a , appellerait. (He said that when he arrived, he would call.)

That last one is the future rule seen through the backshift: the future in the quand clause becomes a conditional, because every future does. English, still refusing, keeps its present-turned-past: "when he arrived".

quand with the present: the habit reading

One legitimate use of the present after , so you do not overcorrect. When the sentence describes a habit or a general truth rather than a single future event, the present is right, in French as in English.

, à . (When it rains, I stay at home.) - what always happens.
pleuvra, à . (When it rains, I will stay at home.) - one specific coming shower.

If you can put "whenever" in front of the English and it still works, the present is correct.

Worked examples

. (I will call you as soon as I get home.) - futur simple in both halves.
vendu , . (Once we have sold the house, we will look for a flat.) - futur antérieur, sale complete.
, content. (As long as you are here, I will be happy.) - a running state, so futur simple.
, d'. (When she has understood, she will change her mind.)
, range . (After you have finished, tidy everything away.) - après que with a futur antérieur and an imperative.
as , me . (If you have time, come and see me.) - si, so the present.

Common mistakes English speakers make

The headline error is the direct calque: quand j'arrive, je t'appellerai, with an English present sitting inside a French time clause. It is the single most common upper-level tense error there is, and it is worth checking every in an essay for it.

The mirror error is overcorrecting and putting a future after . Si j'aurai le temps is wrong; j' is right. Learn the pair together: takes the future, takes the present.

Third, using the futur proche in the clause. Dès que tu vas finir should be .

Fourth, ignoring the sequencing choice and reaching for the futur simple every time. Quand tu finiras, on partira says you will leave at the same moment as the finishing, which is not usually what is meant; is the sentence you wanted.

Fifth, forgetting that a futur antérieur is a compound tense with everything that implies. Quand elle sera parti is missing its agreement, and quand tu auras fini needs its auxiliary in the future, not in the present.

Finally, overcorrecting the habit reading. , à is correct French about what always happens, and turning it into a future changes the meaning rather than fixing it.

The future tense - the futur simple, the futur proche and the irregular stems this page assumes.
The futur antérieur - the compound future you choose when the first action must be over first.
si clauses - the conjunction that refuses this rule, and the golden rule behind it.
Reported speech - where the future in a quand clause goes under a past reporting verb.
The subjunctive after conjunctions - the conjunctions that take a mood change instead of a tense change, including avant que.
The French grammar cheatsheet - the whole grammar map at a glance.

Practise: test yourself

Fill in the blank

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Put the verb in brackets into the tense the conjunction demands. Every one of these is in the future, so no presents after the time words, however English the present feels.

Quand tu , appelle-moi. (arriver) (futur simple, not the present)
Dès que tu fini, on partira. (avoir) (futur antérieur: the job is over first)
Lorsqu'il prêt, nous sortirons. (être) (futur simple of être)
Une fois que nous vendu la maison, nous chercherons un appartement. (avoir) (futur antérieur after une fois que)
Tant qu'il , je resterai à la maison. (pleuvoir) (futur simple: the rain is still going on)
Si tu le temps, viens me voir. (avoir) (si takes the present, never a future)
Quand j' vingt ans, j'habiterai à Paris. (avoir) (futur simple of avoir)
Je te téléphonerai dès que je . (rentrer) (futur simple, same moment as the call)
Quand elle partie, nous pourrons parler. (être) (futur antérieur: she has to be gone first)
Lorsque le film , nous irons manger. (finir) (futur simple of finir)

Pick the right one

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Both futures are grammatical here, so choose on meaning. Does the first action have to be over before the second begins, or do the two sit at the same point?

Quand tu (arriveras / seras arrivé), appelle-moi. The call happens on arrival.
Quand tu (finiras / auras fini), on partira. Nobody leaves until the job is over.
Dès qu'il (rentrera / sera rentré), dis-lui de me voir. He walks in and you speak.
Une fois que j'(aurai / avais) tout rangé, je me reposerai. The tidying is over first.
Tant que tu (seras / auras été) là, je serai content. A state that keeps running.
Quand elle (comprendra / aura compris), elle changera d'avis. She understands first, then changes her mind.

Translation drill

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Translate into French. English will offer you a present tense in the first half of most of these; French will not accept it. Mind the diacritics.

When you arrive, call me.
As soon as you have finished, we will leave.
When I am twenty, I will live in Paris.
I will call you as soon as I get home.
As long as it rains, I will stay at home.
Once we have sold the house, we will look for a flat.
If you have time, come and see me.
When she has left, we will be able to talk.
He said that when he arrived he would call.
When the film finishes, we will go and eat.

Frequently asked questions

Why does French use the future after quand when English uses the present?

Because French marks the tense of the clause and English marks it only once, in the main clause. When I arrive, I will call you has a present in the first half and a future in the second, even though both events are in the future; English uses the present as a default inside a when clause and lets the main verb carry the timing. French treats the subordinate clause as a clause with its own tense, so if the event is in the future it takes a future: quand j'arriverai, je t'appellerai. There is no exception and no register in which the French present is acceptable here.

Which French conjunctions take the future?

The time conjunctions: quand and lorsque (when), dès que and aussitôt que (as soon as), une fois que (once), tant que and aussi longtemps que (as long as), après que (after), and à mesure que (as, gradually). All of them take a futur simple or a futur antérieur when the event they introduce is in the future. Note that this is a list of time conjunctions only: pendant que and depuis que behave the same way because they are also time words, but a conjunction of reason or concession does nothing of the sort.

How do I choose between quand tu arriveras and quand tu seras arrivé?

Ask whether the first action has to be finished before the second can start. If the two events sit at the same point, use the futur simple: quand tu arriveras, appelle-moi (the arriving and the calling are one moment). If the first must be complete first, use the futur antérieur: quand tu auras fini, on partira (the finishing is over, then the leaving happens). Dès que and une fois que lean towards the futur antérieur because both mean the first thing is done, and tant que leans the other way because it describes a state that is still running.

Does the same rule apply after si?

No, and si is the one that trips people up, because if and when feel so similar in English. A conditional si never takes a future or a conditional: si tu arrives à l'heure, on partira ensemble, with a present after si and the future in the main clause. So quand takes a future and si does not, in sentences that otherwise look identical. The exception to the exception is the si that means whether, which is not a conditional at all and does allow a future: je ne sais pas si elle viendra.

What happens to the rule when the whole sentence is in the past?

The rule survives, one step back. Under a past reporting verb the future in the quand clause becomes a conditional, exactly as any other future does: il a dit que quand il arriverait, il appellerait. And in an ordinary past narrative the quand clause simply takes the past tense the story needs: quand il est arrivé, il a appelé. The point of the rule is that French marks the tense of the subordinate clause honestly, whatever the tense happens to be.