The future tense
The future tense describes actions in future time. Those actions can have simple aspect (occurring once) or ongoing/repeated aspect.
The future indicative
The formation of the future indicative is wonderfully straightforward.
- use the same endings as you use for the present indicative
- for the active and middle voice, use the stem from the second principal part
- for the passive voice, use the stem from sixth principal part and extend it with -ησ-
Example:
| Person and Number | Active (2nd principal part) | Middle (2nd principal part) | Passive (6th principal part + -ησ-) |
|---|---|---|---|
| First singular | κελεύσω | κελεύσομαι | κελευσθήσομαι |
| Second singular | κελεύσεις | κελεύσῃ/κελεύσει | κελευσθήσῃ/κελευσθήσει |
| Third singular | κελεύσει | κελεύσεται | κελευσθήσεται |
| First plural | κελεύσομεν | κελευσόμεθα | κελευσθησόμεθα |
| Second plural | κελεύσετε | κελεύσεσθε | κελευσθήσεσθε |
| Third plural | κελεύσουσι(ν) | κελεύσονται | κελευσθήσονται |
The future infinitive
The future infinitive follows the same pattern:
- use the same endings as you use for the present infinitive
- for the active and middle voice, use the stem from the second principal part
- for the passive voice, use the stem from sixth principal part and extend it with -ησ-
Example:
| Tense | Active (2nd principal part) | Middle (2nd principal part) | Passive (6th principal part + -ησ-) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present | κελεύσειν | κελεύσεσθαι | κελευσθήσεσθαι |
Future participles
The future participle follows the same pattern as well!
- for the future active participle, add the present active participle endings to the second principal part. Decline the participle like a 3-1-3 adjective. The nominative and genitive singulars are provided in the chart below as a reminder.
- for the future middle participle, add the present middle participle endings to the second principal part. Decline the participle like a 2-1-2 adjective.
- for the future passive participle, add the present passive participle endings to the sixth principal part, extended with -ησ-. Decline the participle like a 2-1-2 adjective.
Example, with the nominative and genitive singular of each gender provided:
| Voice | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active | κελεύσων, κελεύσοντος | κελεύσουσα, κελευσούσης | κελεῦσον, κελεύσοντος |
| Middle | κελευσόμενος, κελευσομένου | κελευσομένη, κελευσομένης | κελευσόμενον, κελευσομένου |
| Passive | κελευσθησόμενος, κελευσθησομένου | κελευσθησομένη, κελευσθησομένης | κελευσθησόμενον, κελευσθησομένου |
Note on the Attic future
Some verbs have contracted futures, indicated by a circumflex over the ending of the second principal part — such as νομιῶ, from νομίζω. Contracted futures are epsilon contract verbs (e.g., νομιέω), and the same rules for epsilon contractions apply.