Future tense
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In linguistics, a future tense is a verb form that marks the event described by a verb as not having happened yet, but expected to in the future.
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[edit] Future tense in English
In English, as in most Germanic languages, there is no simple future tense. Futurity is expressed either by using words that imply future action ("I go to Berlin tomorrow.") or by employing an auxiliary construction that combines certain present tense verbs with the stem of the verb which represents the true action of the sentence.
The tradition that English has a future tense traces to the period of 300 years, from 1066 to about 1350, when Anglo-Norman was the official language of England. Norman French, unlike English, is a Romance language; and the Romance languages, unlike Germanic languages, do have a simple future tense.
The most common auxiliary verbs used to express futurity are will, should, can, may, and must. Of these, "will" is the most neutral and it is the most commonly used. "Should" implies obligation or commitment to the action contemplated. "Can" implies the ability to commit the action but does not presuppose obligation or firm commitment to the action. "May" expresses the least sense of commitment and is the most permissive; it is also a verb used in the auxiliary construction that suggests conditionality. "Must," by contrast, expresses the highest degree of obligation and commitment ("I must go") and is temporally nearest to present time in its expression of futurity ("I must go now.")
To wit:
- I shall/will go
- I should go
- I can go
- I may go
- I must go
To express futurity in the negative, a negative adverb - such as "not" or "never" is inserted after the auxiliary verb, as in all other auxiliary constructions.
- I shall/will not go
- I should never go
- I cannot go
- I may never go
- I must not go
In all of these, action within a future range of time is contemplated. But in all cases, the sentences are actually voiced in the present tense, since there is no proper future tense in English. It is the implication of futurity that makes these present tense auxiliary constructions amount to a compound future quasi-tense.
- Note that some commentators, especially in England, prefer that the first person, whether 'I' or 'we' decline with 'shall' as the auxiliary and that the other two persons decline with 'will'. This does not describe, nor has it ever described, common usage anywhere in the world, although there are people who follow it. [1] It was originally suggested in Chambers's 17th century grammar.
This reality, that expression of futurity in English is a function of the present tense, is born out by the ability to negate the implication of futurity without making any change to the auxiliary construction. When a verbal construction that suggests futurity (such as "I shall go") is subsequently followed by information that establishes a condition or presupposition, or the active verb stem itself contradicts a future indicative application of the construction, then any sense of future tense is negated - especially when the auxiliary will is used within its literal meaning, which is to voluntarily 'will' an action. For example:
- Person A says: "You will go now. You will not stay."
- Person B answers: "I shall go nowhere. I will stay."
The second 'will', in B's response, is not only expressing volition here but is being used in contradistinction to the usual first person 'shall' in order to achieve emphasis. Similarly, in the case of the second and third persons, 'will' operates with 'shall' in reverse.
For example.
A: Will he be at the café at six o'clock?
B: He will be there. [Normal affirmation]
BUT B: He shall be there.
[Stresses that this is not the usual pattern that was previously established or to be expected (Last time he was late or did not show up)]
Additional auxiliary constructions used to express futurity are labelled as follows:
Future Habitual (or Future Continuous): Auxiliary + Verb Stem + Present Participle
- I shall/will be going
- You will be singing
- He will be sleeping
- We may be coming
- They may be travelling
- It will be snowing when Nancy arrives
- It will not be raining when Josie leaves
Future Perfect: Auxiliary + Verb Stem + Past Participle
- I shall/will be gone
- You will have sung
- He will have slept
- We may have come ("We may be come" can still be used poetically, but it is obsolete in speech)
- They may have travelled
- It will have snowed
- It will not have rained
Future Perfect Habitual (or Future Perfect Continuous): Auxiliary + Verb Stem + Past Participle + Present Participle
- I shall/will have been going
- You will have been singing
- He will have been sleeping
- We may have been coming
- They may have been travelling
- It will have been snowing
- It will not have been raining
[edit] Future tense in Latin
The future tense forms in Latin varied by conjugation. Here is a sample of the future tense for the first conjugation verb 'amare', 'to love'.
amabo I will (shall) love amabis You (singular) will love amabit He, she, it will love amabimus We will (shall) love amabitis You (plural) will love amabunt They will love
This method of producing the future tense in Latin was replaced in the Romance languages by another form using the infinitive plus an ending.
[edit] Future tenses and periphrastic constructions in Romance languages
Languages that have a true future tense include the Romance languages; most also have a periphrastic construction, like English. For example, French has a true future tense j'aimerai, tu aimeras, il aimera, "he will love" (from aimer, to like and il a, he has, so it's literally "He has to love"), but the future is most commonly expressed with the verb aller as an auxiliary: je vais aimer, tu vas aimer, il va aimer.
As in English, this periphrastic construction is also available in the past, by conjugating aller to the imperfect: j'allais voir "I was going to see". Depending on grammatical context, this can sometimes be done with the conditional: Le lendemain, il reconnaîtrait son erreur (The day after, he would recognize his mistake).
Confusingly, Catalan uses the verb anar for periphrastic constructions both in the future (with the preposition a) and the past (without the preposition). In other words, jo vaig a veure is "I will see"; jo vaig veure is "I saw."
Many Romance languages use the future tense also to refer to a supposition or a statement about habit, for example in Spanish: serán las once ("It will be 11 o'clock," meaning "I suppose it's around 11, it must be 11 by now"). This construction is also found in German.
[edit] Future tense in French
French has three forms of future tense: the futur proche, the futur simple, and the futur parfait.
[edit] Futur simple
The future simple is made by simply taking the infinitive of the verb and adding the correct form of avoir (to have) to the end of the word. In the nous and vous form of the word, the ending is instead just -ons and -ez, respectively. However, there are also some French verbs for which an irregular stem is used, such as aller (to go, futur simple stem = ir-), avoir (to have, futur simple stem = aur-) and etre (to be, futur simple stem = ser-). Note, the stem always ends in "r". For instance:
manger- to eat - futur simple stem
Je mangerai I will eat
ir- to go - futur simple stem
Nous irons We will go
The futur simple usually refers to events that will happen further away in time than the futur proche.
[edit] Futur proche
The future proche uses the correct present form of aller (to go) and then has the infinitive after: je mange, je vais manger = I eat, I am going to eat.
Aller: je vais tu vas il va nous allons vous allez ils vont
Note: There is no distinction between the English present and present continuous tenses. je vais = I go, I am going
[edit] Futur Antérieur
Equivalent of English I shall have [verb]. Formed by using the future form of avoir or être, plus the past participle.
Examples: J'aurai fini = I will have finished
Il aura mangé = He will have eaten
Je serai parti = I will have left
Il sera venu = He will have come
The past participle of a regular verb ends in either -i, -é or u. finir --> fini manger --> mangé rendre --> rendu
There are many verbs, however, that end in "voir" that are shortened to the first letter of the verb plus "u". devoir --> dû voir --> vu pouvoir --> pu savoir --> su
[edit] Future Tense in Spanish
In Spanish, there are three main tenses that describe the future: the futuro simple, futuro con "ir", and the futuro perfecto.
[edit] Futuro Simple
The futuro simple is formed by, excluding the irregular verbs (e.g. querer, to want, or salir, to go out), appending the following to the end of the infinitive form of a verb:
| Ending | Verb Form |
| -é | 1st person singular |
| -ás | 2nd person informal singular |
| -á | 3rd person singular, 2nd person formal singular |
| -emos | 1st person plural |
| -éis | 2nd person informal plural |
| -án | 3rd person plural, 2nd person formal plural |
The English equivalent is "will/shall verb."
[edit] Irregular Stems of the Futuro Simple
Irregular stems include:
| Verb (Meaning) | Stem |
| salir (to go out) | saldr- |
| venir (to come) | vendr- |
| tener (to have) | tendr- |
| poner (to put) | pondr- |
| poder (to be able) | podr- |
| valer (to be worth) | valdr- |
| haber (to have) | habr- |
| satisfacer (to satisfy) | satisfar- |
| saber (to know) | sabr- |
| caber (to fit) | cabr- |
| hacer (to do, to make) | har- |
| decir (to say, to tell) | dir- |
| querer (to want) | querr- |
Note that these irregular stems are also used in the conditional tense.
[edit] Futuro con "Ir"
The futuro con "ir" is, as its name implies, formed by using the present form of ir, to go, the preposition a, and the infinitive form of the desired verb. Usually, this translates in English as "to be going to verb."
Example: Voy a comprar I go to buy, or I'm gonna buy
[edit] Futuro Perfecto
The futuro perfecto is formed by using the simple future form of the verb haber, to have, and the past participle of the desired verb.
The English equivalent is "will have past participle of verb."
[edit] Future tense in Scottish Gaelic
In Gaelic, the future tense is formed in regular verbs by adding aidh or idh to the end of the root form of the verb (idh is used if the final vowel in the root is i).
- Danns mi. (I dance.) -> Dannsaidh mi. (I will dance.)
- Èirich i. (She gets up.) -> Èirichidh i. (She will get up.)
The negative is formed by inserting cha before the root, which is lenited. Chan is substituted if the root begins with a vowel or an f followed by a vowel, which is also lenited.
- Cha dhèanamh e i... (He won't do it...)
- Chan fheuch peasan sin idir. (This brat won't try at all.)
In the interrogative, an is placed before the root of the verb. If the root begins with b, f, m, or p, am is used instead.
- An ith thu sin? (Are you going to eat that?)
- Am pòg thu i? (Will you kiss her?)
As in English, some forms are irregular - mostly common verbs. For example, the root for the word "to see" is faic, but the positive future tense form "will see" is chì.
The copula is bidh (will be), cha bhi (will not be), am bi (interrogative), and nach bi (negative interrogative).
- Bidh mi a' tighinn! (I'm coming!)
- Cha bhi e seo a-màireach. (He won't be here tomorrow.)
- Am bi thu air falbh as t-Samhradh? (Will you be away this summer?)
- Nach bi sibh a' fuireach airson am biadh? (Won't you stay for the food, sir?)
The linking verb (that will be) is gum bi (positive) or nach bi (negative).
- Tha ise ag ràdh gum bi esan a' dol. (She said that he will go.)
- Tha mi 'n dòchas nach bi iad sgìth. (I hope that they won't be sick.)
To form other future tenses - future perfect, for example - simply use present tense grammar but change the verb in one of the above ways as appropriate.
[edit] Future Tense in Welsh
Yr Amser Dyfodol
Like most Celtic languages, there is no simple way of forming the future tense. Normally a verb is used to pro-long or decrease the time the subject whilst using the future tense.
- "Mynd" + "Bod" : 'to go' + 'to be' = Dwi'n mynd i dy gasáu: I am going to hate you
- Dwi'n mynd i'ch caniatáu: I am going to permit you.
Futurity can also be expressed by using words that imply future action
- Dwi'n mynd yna heddiw: I am going there today.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Merriam Webster's Dictionary of English Usage, 1994
