The Future Tense in Slovene

Slovene Verbs are quite simple and you can get around with just three tenses: Sedanjik (the Present Tense), Preteklik (the Past Tense) and today, we will learn about Prihodnjik (the Future Tense).

Prihodnjik – the Future Tense

If you understand the Slovene Past Tense quite well, then the Slovene Future Tense will be a real piece of cake for you!

The formula is very simple:

Future Tense = To be (Future Tense)¹ + Participle² + L_³

¹To be (Future Tense)

Here’s some new stuff, the verb To Be – Biti, in the Future Tense.

Jaz	bom	ne bom
Ti	boš	ne boš
On, Ona	bo_	ne bo_
Midva, Medve	bova	ne bova
Vidva, Vedve	bosta	ne bosta
Onadva, Onidve	bosta	ne bosta
Mi, Me	bomo	ne bomo
Vi, Ve	boste	ne boste
Oni, One	bojo, bodo	ne bojo, ne bodo

The other two elements, ² Participle and ³ L_ is exactly the same as in the Slovene Past Tense, I have already explained in the previous lesson, so for those who missed it, please have a look here.

The concept of Slovene Verbs is not overly difficult, but what makes it a challenge is really all the exceptions that follows a “different set of rules”. So, in my opinion, the easiest way to remember the conjugation, is to know the singular masculine form and go from there.

Here’s an example of a regular verb ending with -ti like delati, to work/to do.

	Male	Female
Singular	Jaz bom delal	Jaz bom delala
Dual	Onadva bosta delala	Onidve bosta delali
Plural	Oni bodo delali	One bodo delale

*Please note that biti, to be, in the Future Tense doesn’t have a participle ∴ “jaz bom” and not “jaz bom bil” versus biti in the Past Tense, that is “jaz sem bil“.

One of my favorite reference for Slovene verbs, especially while learning the exceptions, is Slovenski Glagol by Rada Lečič. If you have any questions or other tools, let me know via the comment box below!

Discover more Slovene “lessons” that might interest you: Slovene Numbers & Numerals, Slovene Nouns & Pronouns, Slovene Verbs, Slovene Adjectives, Slovene Syntax, Slovenian Idioms.

Let’s learn,
Anna.