Future & conditional
No future tense, no conditional mood — the verb never changes. Time words alone are usually enough for the future, three small verbs add shades of "will", and "if… then" is a fixed two-word frame.
Time words do most of it
我明天去上海 wǒ míngtiān qù Shànghǎi — "I'm going to Shanghai tomorrow" 她下个月回国 tā xià gè yuè huíguó — "she goes home next month"
That's a complete, natural future. Add nothing.
The three "will" words
| word | flavor | example |
|---|---|---|
| 要 yào | going to; intending / about to | 我要买房子 wǒ yào mǎi fángzi — "I'm going to buy a house" |
| 会 huì | will (prediction, likelihood) | 明天会下雨 míngtiān huì xià yǔ — "it'll rain tomorrow" |
| 打算 dǎsuàn | plan to | 我打算学中文 wǒ dǎsuàn xué Zhōngwén — "I plan to study Chinese" |
Rough mapping: 要 = "going to" (my intention), 会 = "will" (my prediction), 打算 = "plan to". 想 xiǎng — "would like to" is softer than all three: 我想去 wǒ xiǎng qù — "I'd like to go".
Watch out: 会 also means "can (learned skill)" — 我会游泳 wǒ huì yóuyǒng — "I can swim". Context separates them. And 快要…了 kuàiyào…le means "about to": 快要下雨了 — "it's about to rain".
Negating the future
不 (never 没 — the future hasn't happened, but that's 不's territory):
我不去 wǒ bú qù — "I'm not going / won't go" 他不会来 tā bú huì lái — "he won't come"
Conditionals: 如果 … 就 …
"If A, then B" is 如果 rúguǒ … 就 jiù …. 就 sits before the verb of the result clause:
| 如果下雨，我就不去 rúguǒ xià yǔ, wǒ jiù bú qù | "if it rains, I won't go" |
| 如果你有时间，就给我打电话 rúguǒ nǐ yǒu shíjiān, jiù gěi wǒ dǎ diànhuà | "if you have time, call me" |
Both halves are flexible: 如果 can drop (the 就 alone signals the condition), or 就 can drop in short sentences. 要是 yàoshi is a casual synonym of 如果.
There is no subjunctive: "if I were rich" is just 如果我有钱 rúguǒ wǒ yǒu qián — same plain verbs, whether realistic or fantasy. Context supplies the wistfulness.
"Would" — the missing mood
European "would" splits into existing tools:
| English | Mandarin | example |
|---|---|---|
| would (in that case) | 会 huì | 那我会很高兴 nà wǒ huì hěn gāoxìng — "then I'd be very happy" |
| would like to | 想 xiǎng | 我想试试 wǒ xiǎng shìshi — "I'd like to try" |
| would you… (request) | 能…吗 néng…ma / 可以…吗 | 你能帮我吗？nǐ néng bāng wǒ ma? — "would/could you help me?" |
The takeaway
Future = time word (+ optionally 要/会/打算 for intent vs prediction vs plan). Conditional = 如果…就. There are no new verb forms to learn in this chapter — only which small word carries which shade of meaning.
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