Hangul 110: Talking About What’s Coming — The Future Tense

Part of the Learn Korean series on Gentle Path Living Before We Start You now know how to talk about the present (Hangul 107) and the past (Hangul 109). The…

Part of the Learn Korean series on Gentle Path Living

Before We Start

You now know how to talk about the present (Hangul 107) and the past (Hangul 109). The last piece of the puzzle is the future — how to say what you’re going to do, or what you will do.

Korean actually has two common ways to express the future, and they carry slightly different feelings. Once you understand the difference, you’ll be able to talk about plans, promises, and predictions with much more nuance.

The Two Future Forms

Form	Ending	Feeling
Plan/Intention	-(으)ㄹ 거예요	“I’m going to…” — a plan or expectation
Willingness/Promise	-(으)ㄹ게요	“I will…” — a decision made in the moment, often a promise

Both are common, but they’re used in different situations. -(으)ㄹ 거예요 is the more general, all-purpose future — it works for plans, predictions, and guesses. -(으)ㄹ게요 is more personal — it’s what you say when you’re committing to do something, often right there in the conversation.

Forming -(으)ㄹ 거예요

Stem ending	Rule	Example
Vowel	+ ㄹ 거예요	가다 (go) → 갈 거예요
Consonant	+ 을 거예요	먹다 (eat) → 먹을 거예요

Verb	Meaning	Future (plan)
가다	to go	갈 거예요
먹다	to eat	먹을 거예요
공부하다	to study	공부할 거예요
보다	to see/watch	볼 거예요
만나다	to meet	만날 거예요

Forming -(으)ㄹ게요

Same base rule as above, just a different ending attached to the stem.

Verb	Meaning	Future (promise)
하다	to do	할게요
가다	to go	갈게요
전화하다	to call	전화할게요
도와주다	to help	도와줄게요

Important: -(으)ㄹ게요 is almost always used about yourself — you wouldn’t usually say it about someone else’s future actions, since it implies a personal commitment.

Putting It Into Sentences

Korean	English
내일 학교에 갈 거예요.	I’m going to go to school tomorrow.
주말에 친구를 만날 거예요.	I’m going to meet a friend this weekend.
이따가 전화할게요.	I’ll call you later. (promise)
제가 도와줄게요.	I’ll help you. (offer/promise)
다음 주에 비가 올 거예요.	It’s going to rain next week. (prediction)

Notice the last example — -(으)ㄹ 거예요 also works for predictions about things outside your control, like weather. It’s not just about your own plans.

A Short Dialogue

수진: 이번 주말에 뭐 할 거예요? (What are you going to do this weekend?)

준호: 집에서 쉴 거예요. 수진 씨는요? (I’m going to rest at home. What about you?)

수진: 저는 부모님 댁에 갈 거예요. (I’m going to go to my parents’ house.)

준호: 좋겠어요! 재미있게 보내세요. (That sounds nice! Have a good time.)

수진: 고마워요. 다음 주에 연락할게요. (Thanks. I’ll get in touch next week.)

Notice how 수진 switches from -(으)ㄹ 거예요 (talking about her plan) to -(으)ㄹ게요 (making a promise to reach out) — the ending shifts naturally depending on what she’s expressing.

For Heritage Learners

You’ve probably heard -(으)ㄹ게요 far more often than -(으)ㄹ 거예요 in everyday family conversation — things like “제가 할게요” (I’ll do it) or “나중에 전화할게요” (I’ll call later) come up constantly in casual speech. If -(으)ㄹ 거예요 feels slightly less familiar, that’s normal — it shows up more in explaining plans and predictions, which come up less often in quick, casual exchanges at home.

For Beginners

If the two forms feel confusing at first, here’s a simple shortcut: if you’re making a plan you’d say out loud in advance (“I’m going to…”), reach for -(으)ㄹ 거예요. If you’re deciding something on the spot, especially something you’re doing for someone (“I’ll help,” “I’ll call”), reach for -(으)ㄹ게요.

Practice

Try conjugating these into the future tense using -(으)ㄹ 거예요:

읽다 (to read) → ?
쓰다 (to write) → ?
운동하다 (to exercise) → ?

Now try these using -(으)ㄹ게요, imagining you’re making a promise:

돕다 (to help) → ?
기다리다 (to wait) → ?

Write one sentence about a plan you have for next week.

What’s Next

You’ve now covered the three core tenses — present, past, and future. From here, the series moves into more nuanced grammar: connecting sentences, asking questions naturally, and expressing feelings and opinions. Each of these builds directly on the tense foundation you’ve just completed.