The Amharic Future Tense has only one part, and it is simple future, and it is also the same with simple present tense unless we use a time expression adverb like now, yesterday, tomorrow, soon, lately, later, recently, in the future, etc.

Also, the context helps us to identify whether a sentence is present tense or future simple tense. Examples:

• በጣም ስለደከመኝ ልተኛ ነው። I’m going to bed because I’m so tired.
• በሚቀጥለው ወር ወደ አዲስ አበባ ይጓዛሉ። They will travel to Addis Abeba next month.
• ወደ ትምህርት ቤት ይሄዳል። = He will go to school.
• ወደ ትምህርት ቤት አልሄድም። = I will not go to school.

But if the main verb starts with ሊ፣ or ል, this means the sentence is in the future tense. For example:

• ልመጣ ነው። I am about to come.
• ሊመጣ ነው። He is about to come.
• ይጠብቅሀል = He will wait for you.
• ቆይ አትተኛ፣ እራት ሊቀርብ ነው። Wait, don’t sleep; dinner is about to be served.
• አንድ ምሳሌ ከታሪክ ልጥቀስ? Shall I mention an example from history?
• ልንመጣ እንችላለን። Maybe we will come.

These sentences indicate a near future.

This is it! Bravo! You have done it.

But please always balance the theory with practice. If you practice without any theory, it’s aimless. If you focus too much on theory without practice, your brain will become overloaded. The key is to balance the theory with practice until they become habits.