Future Tense in Norwegian

In Brief

Norwegian does not rely on one dedicated future-tense form. It usually expresses future meaning with skal + infinitive for plans or intentions, vil + infinitive or kommer til å + infinitive for predictions, and the present tense when a future time or arrangement is already clear: Vi drar neste uke (“We’re leaving next week”).

Overview

Norwegian verbs do not have a separate set of future endings. Instead, speakers choose among several constructions according to what kind of future they mean: an intention, an arrangement, a neutral prediction, an expected result, or an event fixed by a schedule. This is why choosing the right construction matters more than memorizing a new conjugation table.

At B1, the central task is to distinguish skal, vil, kommer til å, and the present tense. English often uses “will” or “be going to,” but the match is not one-to-one. In particular, Norwegian vil can mean either “will” or “want to,” while skal often carries a stronger sense of intention, agreement, duty, or something already decided.

The infinitive (the basic verb form, such as reise, “to travel”) follows skal and vil without å. In kommer til å reise, however, å is part of the construction and must remain.

How It Works

Four main ways to refer to the future

Construction	Basic pattern	Main use	Example
skal + infinitive	subject + skal + verb	intention, plan, agreement, promise, or expected action	Jeg skal ringe deg.
vil + infinitive	subject + vil + verb	prediction, often presented neutrally or somewhat formally	Prisene vil stige.
kommer til å + infinitive	subject + kommer til å + verb	prediction or expected outcome, often based on present evidence	Det kommer til å regne.
present tense	subject + present-tense verb	schedule, firm arrangement, or future made clear by context	Toget går klokka åtte.

These categories overlap. A speaker’s choice presents the event from a particular angle; it does not merely locate it in time.

Skal for intentions, decisions, and commitments

Use skal + infinitive when the subject intends to do something or when an action has been arranged or decided:

• Jeg skal besøke foreldrene mine i helga. — “I’m going to visit my parents this weekend.”
• Vi skal møtes utenfor kinoen. — “We’re going to meet outside the cinema.”
• Jeg skal hjelpe deg. — “I’ll help you.”

The last example can function as a promise. Depending on context, skal can also express an instruction or obligation rather than simple future time: Du skal levere oppgaven på fredag may mean “You are to submit the assignment on Friday.” Tone and situation determine whether it sounds like a plan, a rule, or an order.

After skal, use the bare infinitive—that is, the infinitive without å:

• Hun skal jobbe, not Hun skal å jobbe.
• De skal reise, not De skal reiser.

Vil for predictions—and for wanting

Use vil + infinitive to state what you believe will happen:

• Det vil ta omtrent en time. — “It will take about an hour.”
• Endringen vil påvirke mange mennesker. — “The change will affect many people.”

This construction is common in explanations, forecasts, and more formal writing. In everyday conversation, kommer til å is often a natural alternative for a prediction.

Be alert to another meaning: vil also means “want to.” With a person as subject and a controllable action, that reading is often the most natural:

• Jeg vil reise hjem. — usually “I want to go home,” not simply “I will go home.”

If you mean a personal plan, Jeg skal reise hjem is normally clearer. If you mean a predicted outcome, the context may make vil unambiguous: Han vil forstå det senere (“He will understand it later”).

Like other modal verbs, vil takes an infinitive without å: Det vil skje, not Det vil å skje.

Kommer til å for expected outcomes

The pattern is kommer til å + infinitive. It commonly presents an event as an expected consequence or a prediction, especially when the speaker sees signs pointing toward it:

• Se på de skyene. Det kommer til å regne. — “Look at those clouds. It’s going to rain.”
• Hun kommer til å bli en god lærer. — “She’s going to become a good teacher.”

Here, kommer is present tense, til belongs to the fixed expression, and å must be included before the main infinitive. Do not treat kommer til å like a modal verb.

This construction can refer to people’s future actions, but it typically sounds like a prediction about what will happen rather than the subject announcing a deliberate plan:

• Jeg skal flytte til Bergen. — I have decided or arranged to move.
• Jeg kommer til å flytte til Bergen. — I expect that moving to Bergen will be the outcome.

The present tense for schedules and firm arrangements

Norwegian often uses the ordinary present tense for future events when a time expression or the context makes the future meaning clear:

• Bussen kommer om ti minutter. — “The bus arrives in ten minutes.”
• Vi spiser sammen i morgen. — “We’re eating together tomorrow.”
• Kurset begynner neste mandag. — “The course starts next Monday.”

This is especially natural for timetables, appointments, travel, and settled arrangements. Without a future-time marker, the same sentence may describe the present or a repeated action. Vi spiser sammen can mean “We eat together” or “We’re eating together,” so add i morgen, senere, neste uke, or other context when necessary.

Negatives and questions

In a main clause, ikke normally follows the finite verb (the verb carrying tense). With skal and vil, it therefore comes before the infinitive:

Meaning	Pattern	Example
negative plan	subject + skal ikke + infinitive	Jeg skal ikke jobbe i morgen.
negative prediction	subject + vil ikke + infinitive	Det vil ikke vare lenge.
negative expected outcome	subject + kommer ikke til å + infinitive	Hun kommer ikke til å glemme det.
question	finite verb + subject + rest	Skal dere reise snart?

In subordinate clauses (clauses that depend on another part of the sentence), ikke normally comes before the finite verb: Jeg tror at han ikke kommer til å forstå det (“I think that he isn’t going to understand it”). This is part of the wider Norwegian word-order system, not a special future rule.

Examples in Context

Norwegian	English	Note
Jeg skal reise i morgen.	I’m going to travel tomorrow.	Decided intention
Vi skal spise hos Anna på lørdag.	We’re going to eat at Anna’s on Saturday.	Arrangement
Jeg skal sende deg adressen senere.	I’ll send you the address later.	Commitment or promise
Skal du være hjemme i kveld?	Are you going to be at home tonight?	Question about a plan
Det vil regne i fjellet.	It will rain in the mountains.	Forecast or prediction
Den nye veien vil redusere reisetiden.	The new road will reduce travel time.	Neutral, formal prediction
Jeg vil lære norsk.	I want to learn Norwegian.	Vil expresses desire here
Hun kommer til å bli lege.	She’s going to become a doctor.	Expected future outcome
Pass på! Du kommer til å falle.	Be careful! You’re going to fall.	Prediction from present evidence
De kommer ikke til å godta forslaget.	They aren’t going to accept the proposal.	Negative prediction
Vi drar neste uke.	We’re leaving next week.	Firm arrangement in the present tense
Flyet lander klokka 21.10.	The plane lands at 9:10 p.m.	Timetable
Når du kommer hjem, lager vi middag.	When you get home, we’ll make dinner.	Present forms with future reference
Om fem år vil byen se annerledes ut.	In five years, the city will look different.	Long-term prediction

Common Mistakes

Adding å after skal or vil

• Wrong: Jeg skal å ringe deg.
• Right: Jeg skal ringe deg.
• Why: Modal verbs such as skal and vil take the infinitive without å.

Dropping å from kommer til å

• Wrong: Det kommer til regne.
• Right: Det kommer til å regne.
• Why: Å is required in the fixed future construction kommer til å + infinitive.

Using a present-tense verb after a modal

• Wrong: Hun vil kommer senere.
• Right: Hun vil komme senere.
• Why: The modal is the finite verb; the following verb must be the infinitive komme, not the present form kommer.

Using vil for every English “will”

• Unclear: Jeg vil besøke Oslo neste uke.
• Clear plan: Jeg skal besøke Oslo neste uke.
• Why: The first sentence is likely to mean “I want to visit Oslo.” Use skal when you are reporting your own decided plan.

Using skal for an evidence-based prediction

• Less natural in neutral context: Se på skyene. Det skal regne.
• Natural: Se på skyene. Det kommer til å regne.
• Why: Kommer til å clearly marks your prediction from present evidence. Det skal regne can instead sound like a reported forecast (“It is supposed to rain”).

Forgetting future context with the present tense

• Ambiguous: Vi møtes.
• Clear: Vi møtes utenfor stasjonen i morgen.
• Why: A present-tense future normally needs a known arrangement, a time expression, or enough conversational context.

Usage Notes

In everyday speech, skal is extremely common for personal plans and agreed actions. It is often the closest Norwegian choice for English “be going to” when someone has made a decision. It can also sound firm: Det skal jeg gjøre means “I’ll do that,” with an assurance that the action will happen.

Kommer til å is common in conversation and useful when the future feels like an outcome rather than a chosen action. Vil is fully normal for predictions, but it is especially visible in formal descriptions, reports, and statements about consequences. Because vil also expresses desire, speakers often choose another construction when ambiguity is possible.

The present tense is not a casual shortcut or incomplete future form. It is the idiomatic choice for departures, openings, meetings, and other scheduled or settled events. English uses the present in some of the same contexts (“The train leaves at six”), but Norwegian also uses it naturally for personal arrangements: Jeg møter Erik etter jobb.

A useful expression to recognize is skal visst, which reports information with some distance: Hun skal visst flytte means approximately “Apparently, she is moving” or “She is said to be moving.” Here skal does not simply announce the speaker’s plan.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

Future seen from the past

To discuss what was future at an earlier point, Norwegian often uses past forms:

• Jeg skulle ringe henne senere. — “I was going to call her later.”
• Vi visste at det kom til å bli vanskelig. — “We knew it was going to be difficult.”

Skulle may describe a past plan, an expectation, or something that was supposed to happen; it does not guarantee that the event actually occurred. Ville can express “would” in reported or hypothetical contexts, but it can also be the past form of “want”: context remains essential.

Future perfect

To look back on a completed event from a future point, use a future expression plus ha + past participle (the verb form used in completed tenses, such as gjort, “done”):

• Innen fredag skal jeg ha skrevet rapporten. — “By Friday, I will have written the report.”
• Om ti år vil teknologien ha endret seg. — “In ten years, the technology will have changed.”
• De kommer til å ha reist før vi kommer. — “They will have left before we arrive.”

The choice among skal, vil, and kommer til å still reflects commitment versus prediction; ha + participle adds the idea of completion.

Present tense after time and condition words

Norwegian commonly uses the present tense in clauses introduced by words such as når (“when”) and hvis (“if”), even when the meaning is future:

• Når jeg kommer hjem, skal jeg lage middag. — “When I get home, I’ll make dinner.”
• Hvis det regner, blir vi hjemme. — “If it rains, we’ll stay home.”

English also uses a present form after “when” and “if,” so this pattern may feel familiar. The important point is that Norwegian does not need a future marker in every clause merely because the whole sentence refers to future time.

Practice Tips

1. Sort future sentences by meaning. For each event, label it “my plan,” “prediction,” “expected outcome,” or “schedule,” then choose skal, vil, kommer til å, or the present tense.
2. Rewrite one idea four ways. Compare Jeg skal flytte, Jeg vil flytte, Jeg kommer til å flytte, and Jeg flytter i august. Explain whether each means a decision, a desire, an expectation, or an arrangement.
3. Listen for the speaker’s attitude. In Norwegian news, forecasts, and conversations, note not only the future construction but also why it was chosen. Pay special attention to whether vil means prediction or desire.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Modal Verbs — learn how skal, vil, and other modal verbs combine with a bare infinitive.