Near future (ir + infinitive) and modal verbs

A1 Futuro próximo (ir + infinitivo) e verbos modais 11 / 55

In short

You can already talk about now (Lesson 6) and about what is happening this second (Lesson 9). This lesson gives you two more everyday tools, both built on the same simple shape - a conjugated helper verb plus an infinitive. The first is the near future: ir (“to go”) in the present plus an infinitive, Vou comer = “I am going to eat” - this is how Portuguese speakers actually talk about plans, far more than with the one-word future you meet later in Lesson 32. The second is the family of modal verbs - poder, dever, ter de, precisar de - which let you say what you can, should, have to and need to do. In every case you conjugate only the first verb; the action stays in the infinitive.

The rule

ir + infinitive - the near future

Take ir in the present (it is irregular - Lesson 7: vou, vais, vai, vamos, vão), then add the infinitive of the action. That is the whole recipe:

Vou estudar hoje à noite. - I’m going to study tonight.
Vais gostar deste livro. - You’re going to like this book.
Amanhã vamos visitar os meus pais. - Tomorrow we’re going to visit my parents.

There is no “a” between ir and the infinitive. Spanish says voy a comer; Portuguese says vou comer. Slipping an a in there is the most common single error with this structure. The near future covers plans, predictions and decisions just made (Vou ajudar-te = “I’ll help you”). For a genuine, distant, or more formal future, Portuguese also has a one-word future tense, but you do not need it yet - in speech ir + infinitivo does almost all the work.

A modal is a verb that props up another verb to add a shade of meaning: possibility, obligation, advice. Portuguese modals work exactly like the periphrases you already know - conjugate the modal, leave the main verb in the infinitive. Four carry you a long way:

poder (can, may) - ability and permission: Posso entrar? (“May I come in?”), Não podes fumar aqui (“You can’t smoke here”).
dever (should, ought to) - advice and mild obligation: Deves descansar (“You should rest”). Dever also expresses probability: Ela deve estar em casa (“She must be at home”).
ter de (have to) - real obligation or necessity: Tenho de ir (“I have to go”). Note the linking de.
precisar de (to need to) - necessity, slightly softer than ter de: Preciso de dormir (“I need to sleep”). Note the linking de here too - and that precisar de also works before a noun: Preciso de ajuda.

The split to memorise: poder and dever take the infinitive directly, while ter and precisar need de before it.

Forms & patterns

The near future - ir (present) + infinitive, with no linking word:

Person	ir	Near future	English
eu	vou	vou sair	I’m going to leave
tu	vais	vais ver	you’re going to see
você / ele / ela	vai	vai chover	it’s going to rain
nós	vamos	vamos comer	we’re going to eat
vocês / eles / elas	vão	vão chegar	they’re going to arrive

The four modals in the present, and the link each one takes before the infinitive:

Person	poder (-)	dever (-)	ter de	precisar de
eu	posso	devo	tenho de	preciso de
tu	podes	deves	tens de	precisas de
você / ele / ela	pode	deve	tem de	precisa de
nós	podemos	devemos	temos de	precisamos de
vocês / eles / elas	podem	devem	têm de	precisam de

As with Lesson 9, only the first verb changes for person and tense; the infinitive after it never changes.

Examples

Português	English
Vou telefonar ao médico amanhã.	I’m going to phone the doctor tomorrow.
Vais sair esta noite?	Are you going to go out tonight?
Acho que vai chover logo à tarde.	I think it’s going to rain later this afternoon.
Vamos ver um filme depois do jantar.	We’re going to watch a film after dinner.
Posso abrir a janela?	May I open the window?
Não podes estacionar aqui.	You can’t park here.
Deves beber mais água.	You should drink more water.
Tenho de acordar cedo amanhã.	I have to wake up early tomorrow.
Temos de apanhar o comboio das oito.	We have to catch the eight o’clock train.
Preciso de descansar um pouco.	I need to rest a little.

Common mistakes

Vou a comer -> Vou comer - the Portuguese near future is ir + infinitivo with NO “a”; the a belongs to Spanish, not Portuguese.
Nós vai comer -> Nós vamos comer - conjugate ir for the subject (vou, vais, vai, vamos, vão) before adding the infinitive.
Vou comerei -> Vou comer - after vou / vais / vai… the second verb is a plain infinitive, never itself conjugated.
Posso a entrar? -> Posso entrar? - poder takes the bare infinitive, with no linking word (the same goes for dever).
Tenho ir -> Tenho de ir - obligation is ter de + infinitivo; the de is not optional in European Portuguese.
Preciso estudar -> Preciso de estudar - in EP precisar keeps de before the infinitive; dropping it is Brazilian.
Devo de estudar meaning “I should study” -> Devo estudar - dever + bare infinitive is “should”; the extra de is old-fashioned or regional, so leave it out.

Tips

For everyday plans, ir + infinitivo is your workhorse: Amanhã vou estudar is far more natural in speech than the formal one-word future Amanhã estudarei (Lesson 32).
These all follow the Lesson 9 pattern - “conjugate the first verb, keep the second in the infinitive.” Only the helper changes for the person.
Learn each modal with its glue word, or lack of one: poder + inf, dever + inf, ter de + inf, precisar de + inf. The two “de” verbs are the ones learners get wrong.
dever has a second job as “probably / must be”: Ela deve estar a dormir = “She must be sleeping.” Context separates the two uses.
To ask permission politely, reach for Posso + infinitivo?: Posso entrar?, Posso pagar com cartão?.
In Brazil: precisar usually drops the de before an infinitive (preciso estudar), and ter que is more common than ter de. Both are understood in Portugal, but keep precisar de and ter de in your own European Portuguese.