Будешь трудиться, будешь кормиться.
Let him that earns the bread eat it. (saying)
Будь что будет.
Be that as it may. (saying)
Будет дождь, будет и ведро.
After black clouds, a clear sun. (saying)
Будет и на нашей улице праздник.
Every dog has his day, and every man has his hour. (saying)
| Introduction |
There are only three tenses in Russian: present, past and future. That makes things pretty darn easy. But there is a little twist!
There are actually two ways to form the future tense in Russian: the compound form and the perfective aspect. In this post we’ll only be covering the former of the two. These two future tenses aren’t interchangeable – they are very different in meaning, hence there shall be separate posts for each one.
| Formation |
| To form the compound future tense, we use the verb быть [to be], conjugated in the future tense, and then a verb in its infinitive [imperfective] form. |
| быть [to be] future tense |
| буду | будем |
| будешь | будете |
| будет | будут |
| + делать, писать, ходить, смотреть, читать, etc. [imperfective aspect only] |
Some in-context examples:
| Что вы будете делать следующим летом? What will you do next summer? |
| Этим вечером я буду заниматься и смотреть сериалы. This evening, I’ll be studying and watching series. |
| В 5 часов мы с коллегами будем работать над проектом. At 5 o’clock, my colleagues and I will be working on a project. |
Pretty easy? I thought so! Let’s see some additional [simpler] examples utilizing this construction.
| Они будут слушать новую музыку. They will listen to new music. |
| Ты будешь читать русские стихотворения? Will you read Russian poems? |
| Я не буду мыть посуду после ужина. I won’t wash the dishes after dinner. |
| Я никогда больше не буду так говорить. I will never talk like that again. |
| You use this kind of future tense for general statements and continued, repeated actions where no type of end is intended – process is more important than result. For this reason, in addition to being translated as will, it can also be translated as will be + gerund. |
| Завтра вечером я буду играть на пианино. Tomorrow evening, I will be playing the piano. |
| Она часто будет думать обо мне. She will often be thinking about me. |
You’ll master this in no time! Let’s make sure you’re aware of one more thing.
| If you want to use the verb to be in the future, use the conjugation of the verb быть in the future tense and nothing else. Don’t say Я буду быть…, that’s redundant. |
| Соседи будут здесь завтра. The neighbors will be here tomorrow. |
| Когда ты будешь там? When will you be there? |
| Скоро будет полночь. Soon it will be midnight. |
Are you finding my blog useful?
Like and share the posts and subscribe to my blog please.
By doing so, you help it thrive and succeed.
Here are some songs utilizing the future tense we learned in this lesson. Warning, some lyrics are not completely family friendly.
Я буду целовать твои руки,
Без ума от счастья [Горячий шоколад]
Я буду целовать твои губы,
Всё, что есть у меня – это ты.
Я буду целовать твоё тело
И делать всё, что раньше не смела,
Всё, что есть у меня – это ты.
I’ll kiss your arms.
I’ll kiss your lips.
Everything that I have is you.
I’ll kiss your body.
And do whatever I didn’t dare [do] before.
Everything that I have is you.
Но я буду в твоей голове, в голове.
В твоей голове [Дима Билан]
Несуразные мысли.
Я буду в твоей голове, в январе.
И когда падают листья.
But I’ll be in your head, in your head.
Silly thoughts.
I’ll be in your head, in January.
And when the leaves fall.
Now wasn’t that easy? It definitely should’ve been. As usual, thank you for taking the time to read this post and I’ll be back soon with yet another helpful grammar post.
| Last Edit: 01/04/2026. |
My Slavic Studies 