A Tense Based on Glimpses into the
Unknown |
| Who
knows what the future will bring? |
| The
"future" definitely comes, but "the best
laid plans of mice and men gang aft aglee!" |
| That
just means, even with the best intentions - we never do
know what we WILL do in the future. |
| The
future tense covers different territory from its English
counterpart. |
| |
|
A
Spanish verb form in the future tense can be translated
in various ways. |
|
Spanish
form |
=
English future |
=
Conjecture |
=
Rhetorical |
|
|
|
|
| hablaré |
I
will speak. |
I
may well speak. |
Do
you think I'll speak ? |
| trabajarás |
You
will work. |
You
may well/might work. |
Somebody
think you´ll work ? |
| bailará |
He
will dance. |
He
might dance. |
Think
he'll dance ? |
| estudiará |
She
will study. |
She
may well study. |
Think
she'll study ? |
| preguntaremos |
We
will ask. |
We
might just ask. |
Maybe
if we asked ... |
| contestaréis |
Y'all
will answer. |
Y'all
could give an answer. |
Think
y'all might respond ? |
| pensarán |
They
will think. |
They
may well think ... |
They
might think ... |
| tomarán |
They
will drink. |
They
may be drinking. |
Think
they're drinking ? |
|
|
| |
| The
Spanish speaker does not always use the future tense to
establish a "future action." |
More
often than not, the future is used in the sense of conjectural
thought: "Might something be happening?" |
| A
good example of the future tense used as a rhetorical question:
|
Two
people are in the desert. They've wandered around
for several days. Neither has a watch. How smart
would it be for one to ask the other: "What
time is it?" More than likely the question
would be: "What time do you think it is?"
or "What time might it be?" |
|
|
In
this case, the question would be:
"¿Qué hora será?"
|
| Use
the Spanish future tense for any question beginning with
"Do you think ... ?" |
|
|
The
future tense verb form implies a possibility to
which the answer is unknown. |
|
might
_____ |
may
well _____ |
|
|
Any
English verb can be placed in the blank, being
then equivalent to the Spanish "future tense"
usage.
|
|
|
| These
choices in English reflect an action that is only possible,
not necessarily likely. |
| The
future tense then states that "an act will happen" or "an
act might be happening." |
| The
information can be understood through context. |
| Spanish
future forms are developed from one single set of endings. |
| For
most Spanish verbs, these endings are attached to the infinitive:
Don't drop any letters !!! |
|
Future
Tense Endings |
|
Singular
|
| yo |
-
é
|
| tú*
|
-
ás
|
| él,
ella, Usted |
-
á
|
|
|
|
Plural
|
| nosotros,
nosotras |
-
emos
|
| vosotros,
vosotras |
-
éis
|
| ellos,
ellas, Ustedes |
-
arán
|
|
|
|
|
| Also
realize that these endings
when attached to the whole verb carry the full weight of
: |
|
will
_____ |
might/may
well _____ |
Think
somebody´s _____ing ? |
|
| |
|
A
few verbs in Spanish have an irregular verb stem for the
future tense, but they will still take these same endings.
|
