Future simple tense in Russian

Hello, dear student!

Today I would like to talk about future tense, specifically - future simple tense in the Russian language. We use this tense to express our intention to do something or achive a result.

Future simple tense is formed in the following way: we add the prefix "по" [po] to a verb in present tense:

Звонить + По = Позвонить [pazvanit'] - To call
Звать + По = Позвать [pazvat'] - To call (by name, or somebody)
Купить + По = Покупать [pakupat'] - To buy

Let's examine how we change the form of a verb :

Я позвоню	[Ya pazvan'u]	I will call you	Я покажу	[Ya pakazhu]	I will show
Ты позвонишь	[Ty pazvanish]	You will call	Ты покажешь	[Ty pakazhish]	You will show
Он позвонит	[On pazvanit]	He will call	Он покажет	[On pakazhit]	He will show
Мы позвоним	[My pazvanim]	We will call	Мы покажем	[My pakazhim]	We will show
Вы позвоните	[Vy pazvanite]	You will call (plural)	Вы покажите	[Vy pakazhite]	You will show (plural)
Они позвонят	[Ani pazvan'at]	They will call	Они покажут	[Ani pakazhut]	They will show

Some examples for practice:

Вы думаете, он мне напишет? [Vy dumaete, on mne napishet?] - Do you think he will write me?
Он обязательно вам напишет! [On abizatel'no vam napishit] - He will definitely write you.

These examples show that adding the prefix "по" is not the only way to form the future simple tense. So what should we do and how to memorize the formation rule of this tense? The answer is quite simple: to get the future simple tense in Russian, we use a perfective verb with the ending of present tense. For instance:

Знать - Узнаю [uznayu] - to recognize (the verb "узнавать"- in present tense - is a perfective verb, thus we get the verb in future simple tense - "узнаю").