Korean Future Tense: The 3 Forms You Actually Need to Know

So you want to talk about what you're going to do tomorrow in Korean. Should be simple, right? English has "will" and "going to," and that's pretty much it.

Korean has three different ways to say the future. And here's the thing — they're not interchangeable. Use the wrong one and you'll sound weird at best, or confuse people at worst.

Let's break down what each one actually means and when to use it.

The Big Picture: Why Are There Three?

Before we get into the grammar, you need to understand something about Korean: the language encodes a lot of information about your relationship with the listener and how certain you are about what you're saying.

English future tense is mostly about when something happens. Korean future tense is about when plus how committed you are plus who you're talking to.

Once you get that, the three forms make a lot more sense.

1. -(으)ㄹ 거예요: The Default Future

This is your go-to. If you're not sure which future tense to use, use this one.

What it means: "I will..." or "I'm going to..." — a straightforward statement about future plans or predictions.

How to form it:

Examples:

When to use it:

This form works with any subject — first person, second person, third person. You can use it in questions. It's the Swiss Army knife of Korean future tenses.

One quirk: when you use it with a third-person subject, it often sounds like you're guessing or assuming something rather than stating a fact. 그 사람은 의사일 거예요 sounds more like "That person is probably a doctor" than "That person will be a doctor."

2. -(으)ㄹ게요: The Promise Form

This one's different. You use it when you're making a commitment to someone, often in response to something they said.

What it means: "I will..." with an implied "...for you" or "...as promised"

How to form it: Same consonant/vowel rules as above:

Examples:

The critical restrictions:

Look at the difference:

The second one implies you're doing it because of or for the person you're talking to. It's subtle but real.

A common mistake: Using -(으)ㄹ게요 for things outside your control.

비가 올게요 ❌ — This doesn't work. You can't promise rain.

비가 올 거예요 ✓ — This is correct. You're predicting it.

3. -겠어요: Strong Intention + Formal Vibes

This one's tricky because it does multiple things.

What it can mean:

How to form it: Just attach -겠어요 to any verb stem. No consonant/vowel variations.

Examples:

Strong intention:

Conjecture:

Polite/service industry:

Here's the thing about -겠어요: it sounds more formal than -(으)ㄹ 거예요. You'll hear it a lot in news broadcasts, formal speeches, and from customer service people. In casual conversation with friends, it can sound stiff.

The 맛있겠다 usage is super common though. You say it when you see food that looks good, not when you're eating it and confirming it tastes good. That distinction matters.

Quick Reference: Which One Do I Use?

Dealing with Irregular Verbs

If you've looked at Korean verb conjugation before, you know some verbs don't play by the rules. Good news: the future tense is actually easier than present and past tense for most irregulars.

ㄷ irregulars — The ㄷ changes to ㄹ before adding the ending:

ㅂ irregulars — The ㅂ drops and becomes 우:

ㅅ irregulars — The ㅅ drops:

ㄹ verbs — Already end in ㄹ, so just add -거예요:

One thing to watch out for: not every verb ending in ㄷ or ㅂ is irregular. 닫다 (to close) is regular: 닫을 거예요. 받다 (to receive) is also regular: 받을 거예요. You kind of have to memorize which ones are which, but the common irregular ones show up so often that you'll learn them pretty quickly from exposure.

The Formality Levels

Everything above has been in the "polite informal" style (해요체), which is what you'll use in most everyday situations. But Korean has different formality levels, and the future tense changes accordingly.

For -(으)ㄹ 거예요:

For -겠어요:

If you're just starting out, stick with the 거예요/게요/겠어요 forms. They'll work in almost any situation where you're not giving a formal speech or talking to your best friend.

Check out our basic Korean grammar guide if you want more context on how these speech levels work.

A Note on "Will Be" vs. "Will Become"

This trips people up. In English, "I will be a teacher" and "I will become a teacher" mean basically the same thing.

In Korean, they don't.

When you want to express that someone will be something in the future, you usually need 되다 (to become), not 이다 (to be). The future tense of 이다 sounds more like an assumption than a prediction.

Actually Learning This Stuff

Look, I can explain the rules all day, but Korean future tense clicks when you hear it used naturally — in dramas, YouTube videos, conversations. The difference between -(으)ㄹ 거예요 and -(으)ㄹ게요 becomes obvious when you notice how characters switch between them based on context.

That's actually one of the reasons immersion works so well for grammar. You're not memorizing rules in isolation; you're seeing patterns in real language. After enough exposure, you start to feel when something sounds right or wrong.

If you're serious about wanting to learn Korean, getting that exposure is half the battle.

Migaku makes this a lot easier than trying to piece things together from textbooks. You can watch Korean shows with interactive subtitles, look up grammar points and vocabulary on the fly, and save sentences to study later. When you encounter a future tense form you don't recognize, you can tap it and see how it breaks down.

The nice thing is that you're learning from content you actually want to watch, which means you're way more likely to stick with it. And because you're seeing grammar in context over and over, it actually sticks in a way that flashcards alone never quite manage.

There's a 10-day free trial if you want to see how it works. Give it a shot.

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