Conjugation of verbs in the Future Tense
Slovenian ⋙
Slovenian A1
Welcome to our Slovenian grammar course for beginners! Today we're going to talk about the future tense.
The future tense in the Slovenian language allows us to talk about actions, events, plans, and opportunities that we are still planning.
We need to use the future tense for the following reasons:
- When we talk about plans;
- When we predict future actions;
- When we discuss future obligations or events.
The Future Tense
In English the Future Tense is often conjured using the auxiliary verb "
will" followed by the infinitive form of the main verb.
For instance, "
I will travel," "
She will read," "
We will eat."
However, in Slovenian, the future tense is formed in a unique way by combining the verb "
biti" (
to be) with the participle form of the verb you need. To make forms of the future tense, we need to use the next rule:
biti (to be) in the future tense + the participle of the verb you need.
First, let's look at the verb "
biti" in the future tense:
Jaz bom - I will be
Ti boš - You will be (informal singular)
On / Ona / Ono bo - He/She/It will be
Midva / Midve bova - We (dual) will be
Vidva / Vidve bosta - You (dual) will be
Onadva / Onidve bosta - They (dual) will be
Mi / Me bomo - We (plural) will be
Vi / Ve boste - You (plural) will be
Oni / One / Ona bodo / bojo * - They will be
* There is no difference between "bodo" and "bojo." You can use either one.
To these forms of "
biti," we append the participle of the verb we need.
Second, the participle is a form we are already familiar with because it is the same form we used for the
past tense. We remind you that this is formed by removing the suffix "
-ti" from the infinitive and adding the following suffixes from the table below.
"-l" for the masculine in singular;
"-la" for the feminine in singular;
"-lo" for the neuter in singular;
"-la" for the masculine or a combination of masculine + any other in dual;
"-li" for only feminine or only neuter in dual;
"-li" for the masculine in plural (at least one masculine object);
"-le" for the feminine in plural (all objects are feminine );
"-la" for the neuter in plural (all objects are neuter );
Conjugation
Let's take the example of the verb
vedeti (
to know):
Jaz bom vedel Jaz bom vedela (I will know [ masculine / feminine ])
Ti boš vedel Ti boš vedela (You will know [ masculine / feminine ])
On bo vedel Ona bo vedela Ono bo vedelo (He/she/it will know)
Midva bova vedela Midve bova vedeli (We (dual) will know [ masculine / feminine ])
Vidva bosta vedela Vidve bosta vedeli (You (dual) will know [ masculine / feminine ])
Onadva bosta vedela Onidve bosta vedeli (They (dual) will know [ masculine / feminine or neuter ])
Mi bomo vedeli Me bomo vedele (We (plural) will know [ masculine / feminine ])
Vi boste vedeli Ve boste vedele (You (plural) will know [ masculine / feminine ])
Oni bodo / bojo vedeli One bodo / bojo vedele Ona bodo / bojo vedela (They will know [ masculine / feminine / neuter ])
For the second example, let us take the verb
učiti se (
to learn):
Jaz se bom učil Jaz se bom učila (I will learn [ masculine / feminine ])
Ti se boš učil Ti se boš učila (You will learn [ masculine / feminine ])
On se bo učil Ona se bo učila Ono se bo učilo (He/she/it will learn)
Midva se bova učila Midve se bosta učili (We (dual) will learn [ masculine / feminine ])
Vidva se bosta učila Vidve se bosta učili (You (dual) will learn [ masculine / feminine ])
Onadva se bosta učila Onidve se bosta učili (They (dual) will learn [ masculine / feminine or neuter ])
Mi se bomo učili Me se bomo učile (We (plural) will learn [ masculine / feminine ])
Vi se boste učili Ve se boste učile (You (plural) will learn [ masculine / feminine ])
Oni se bodo / bojo učili One se bodo / bojo učile Ona bodo / bojo učila (They will learn [ masculine / feminine / neuter ])
This example demonstrates that the Future Tense in Slovenian is mostly identical to the past tense, except for the form of the verb "biti."
Negation
To make the future tense negative, simply place the particle "
ne" before the forms of "biti."
Here's an example with the verb
iti (
to go):
Jaz ne bom šel Jaz ne bom šla (I will not go[ masculine / feminine)
Ti ne boš šel Ti ne boš šla (You will not go[ masculine / feminine)
On ne bo šel Ona ne bo šla Ono ne bo šlo (He /she / it will not go)
Midva ne bova šla Midve ne bova šli (We (dual) will not go [ masculine / feminine)
Vidva ne bosta šla Vidve ne bosta šli (You (dual) will not go [ masculine / feminine)
Onadva ne bosta šla Onidve ne bosta šli (They (dual) will not go [ masculine / feminine or neuter)
Mi ne bomo šli Me ne bomo šle (We (plural) will not go [ masculine / feminine)
Vi ne boste šli Ve ne boste šle (You (plural) will not go [ masculine / feminine)
Oni ne bodo / bojo šli One ne bodo / bojo šle Ona ne bodo / bojo šla (They will not go [ masculine / feminine / neuter)
Summary
Now you know how the Slovenian future tense is formed. We hope that you will be able to use this tense whenever you need or want.
We will be glad to see you at our next lesson, where we will talk about the
conditional mood in Slovenian. Good luck!
