Plans and the future: 갈 거예요

Tomorrow, a ㄹ slips under the stem

오늘 학교에 가요 — today I go to school. 내일 학교에 갈 거예요 — tomorrow I’m going to go. 내일 친구를 만날 거예요. 내일 영화를 볼 거예요.

Look at the verbs: 가 has become 갈, 만나 has become 만날, 보 has become 볼. A ㄹ sits under the stem as a final consonant, and a separate word, 거예요, follows. This is how you say what you plan or expect to do.

After this ㄹ, 거예요 is pronounced [꺼예요]. It is still spelled 거예요.

Vowel stem: ㄹ 거예요. Consonant stem: 을 거예요

가 + ㄹ 거예요 = 갈 거예요. 보 + ㄹ 거예요 = 볼 거예요. But 먹 already has a final consonant, with no room for ㄹ underneath, so it takes a whole extra syllable: 먹을 거예요. Likewise 읽을 거예요.

This is the future ending, written -(으)ㄹ 거예요 in textbooks. Notice what decides it: whether the stem ends in a vowel or a consonant, the logic of 를 / 을. The stem’s vowel, which chose 아요 or 어요, plays no part here.

Four 하다 verbs for making plans

여행해요 travel, 쇼핑해요 go shopping, 전화해요 phone, 청소해요 clean a room or a house. Their dictionary forms are 여행하다, 쇼핑하다, 전화하다, 청소하다.

The stem of every one ends in 하, a vowel. So the future is always the same: 할 거예요. 여행할 거예요, 전화할 거예요. On its own, 여행 is the noun “trip”.

Words that point forward

다음 주 next week, 내년 next year, 나중에 later, 곧 soon.

In a sentence, 다음 주 and 내년 take the time particle: 다음 주에, 내년에. 나중에 already has its 에 built in, and 곧 stands alone, as 내일 does. Compare the pair from the last lesson: 지난주 is last week, 다음 주 next week; 작년 is last year, 내년 next year.

Stems that already end in ㄹ

살다 → 살 거예요. 놀다 → 놀 거예요. These stems end in a consonant, so you might reach for 을. But the consonant is ㄹ itself, the very letter the ending wants to add, so nothing more is needed: just 거예요.

내년에 서울에 살 거예요 — I’m going to live in Seoul next year. 주말에 놀 거예요 — I’m going to have fun at the weekend. It is enough to recognise this for now.

Yesterday, today, tomorrow

어제 학교에 갔어요. 오늘 학교에 가요. 내일 학교에 갈 거예요. Past, present and future of one verb, all built on the stem 가.

To ask about plans, put 뭐 with the future of 하다: 주말에 뭐 할 거예요? — what are you going to do at the weekend? The plain present with a future time word, as in 내일 가요, remains correct; the future form makes the plan or expectation explicit.