Lesson 3 – Future simple tense

So far we have looked at verbs in the present tense and verbs in the past tenses.

In order to talk about events that we expect to take place in the future we use the future simple tense. In English, we use ‘will’ to make this tense.

For example:

Future tense

Ego Lucie messuagium dabo – I will give a messuage to Lucy

In Latin, just as with the present and past tenses, we need to know the conjugation a verb belongs to in order to make a future tense.

Remember, Latin verbs are divided into four groups, or conjugations.

In each conjugation, the verbs share the same endings:
An example of a first conjugation verb is: confirmo, confirmare, confirmavi, confirmatum (1) – to confirm.
An example of a second conjugation verb is: habeo, habere, habui, habitum (2) – to have
An example of a third conjugation verb is: duco, ducere, duxi, ductum (3) – to lead
An example of a fourth conjugation verb is: audio, audire, audivi, auditum (4) – to hear

First and second conjugation verbs

In the future simple tense, the endings for first and second conjugation verbs are the same as those in the present.

The difference is that they are preceded by ‘b-’ in the first person singular, ‘bu-’ in the third person plural and ‘bi-’ for the remaining persons.

To form the future tense for first and second conjugation verbs, remove ‘-re’ from the end of the infinitive form of the verb to get the stem and then add the relevant ending above.

For example:

The stem for do, dare, dedi, datum (1) is da-

Third and fourth conjugation verbs

In the future simple tense, the endings for third and fourth conjugation verbs are the same as those in the present. The difference is that they are preceded by ‘e-’.

Exception

The first person singular uses ‘a-’ instead of ‘e-’, and the present tense ending of ‘-o’ changes to ‘-m’.

To form the future tense for third conjugation verbs remove the ‘-ere’ from the infinitive form of the verb to get the stem and add the relevant ending.

For example:

The stem for concedo, concedere, concessi, concessum (3) is conced–

To form the future tense for fourth conjugation verbs remove the ‘-re’ from the infinitive form of the verb to get the stem and add the relevant ending.

For example:

The stem for venio, venire, veni, ventum (4) is veni–

Irregular verbs

Handy hint

Two irregular verbs you will frequently come across are ‘esse’, ‘to be’, and ‘ire’, ‘to go’. It is well worth learning their future forms.

The future tense of sum, esse, fui, – ‘to be’ is irregular and is formed as follows:

The future tense of eo, ire, ivi, itum ‘to go’ is formed as follows:

Checklist

Are you confident with:

• The meaning of a future simple tense?
• The form of a future simple tense?
• The meaning of the irregular verbs ‘esse’ and ‘ire’ in the future simple tense?
• The form of the irregular verbs ‘esse’ and ‘ire’ in the future simple tense?

Go to Lesson 16