Expressing the Future-I will call......(voy +a+inifinitive) vs Future Tense

Question

Hi, Me again. Sorry about posting numerous questions but I never studied Spanish before and I just started a few months ago in my early 40's. Since I try to converse in Spanish (beginner Spanish) I paint myself into corners.

Simple everyday phrase-I will call you tomorrow. I am finding easier to use (Ir+a+infinitive with a direct object pronoun attached to the infinitive) I am going to call you tomorrow-Voy a llamarte mañana . I am going to take you to the movies tomorrow -Voy a llevarte al cine mañana

As opposed to conjugating the infinitive in the future tense with the direct object pronoun preceding it because I don't have to remember the conjugations as often. Te llamaré mañana (I will call you tomorrow) I will take you to the movies tomorrow-Te llevaré al cine mañana

Are these the same thing? If so, it is correct to use the IR example when speaking to someone.

Hi.. Please do not apologize for posting questions. We love to get them! - francobollo, Sep 26, 2012

I had the same question this summer and had to ask my friend (Mexican) to help me. Good question for a beginner like me. - island_fever, Sep 26, 2012

Answer 1

I am going to call you is definitely more used in spoken Spanish than I will call you, which is more reserved for the written language.

Voy a llamarte expresses the same as I will call you (Te llamaré, which almost no one uses in spoken Spanish).

There's also the immediate future expressed using the simple present. <(Yo) te llamo en 5 minutos vs. Voy a llamarte en 5 minutos or Te llamaré en 5 minutos>. But that's for another "Oprah Show" like we say here in the US.

I hope this helps.

Gracias - bfpsu, Sep 26, 2012

Answer 2

I thought "Voy a (infinitive)" was the lazy man's way to express the future and was reluctant to use it at first. However, it is used all of the time by natives, and it is SO easy to use.

Voy a comer. Caio.

Is it not "chau" ? amiga - ian-hill, Sep 26, 2012

Sorry, Ian. I flipped into Italian there for a second. - JoyceM, Sep 27, 2012

Answer 3

In Bolivia I noticed that natives tended to use the "voy a" most of the time.

Very useful for me because then I could just use the infinitive of all verbs and just learn the --- "voy a" -"va a" - "Vamos a " - "van a" - "vas a" - much easier.

Remember that in English there are 6 or 7 ways of expressing the future.

In English we can say for example:

"I will call you" (which is really a prediction)

"I am going to call you" is more of a promise as is "I shall call you"

I have a "plan" to call you as I speak.

Of course "shall" does not exist in Spanish.