The Future Tenses
Near Future
The near future is used for actions that will take place approximately within the next 18 hours.
This tense is formed with the prefix ‘-naa-‘ (which becomes -noo- for the second person singular)
For reflexive verbs it becomes -nee-
person prefix + naa/noo/nee + present stem
Person Prefix | Added Letter | Present Stem | Distant Past Word | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
N | naa | -genda | Nnaagenda | I will leave |
O | noo | -jja | Onoojja | You will come |
A | naa | -gula | Anaagula | He will buy |
Tu | naa | -komawo | Tunaakomawo | We will come back |
Mu | naa | -gamba | Munaagamba | You will say |
Ba | naa | -buuzia | Banaabuza | They will ask |
Reflexives
Person Prefix | Added Letter | Present Stem | Distant Past Word | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
N | nee | -taaga | Nneetaaga | I will need |
Ba | nee | -taaga | Baneetaaga | They will need |
Class Noun Examples
Zinaakola → They will do
Lunaakola → It will do
Zineetaga → They will need
Luneetaga → It will need
Distant Future
The far future is used for actions that will take place after the next 18 hours.
This tense is formed with the prefix ‘-li-‘
For reflexive verbs it becomes -ly-
Person prefix + li/ly + present stem
Person Prefix | Added Letter | Present Stem | Distant Past Word | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
N | li | -genda | Ndigenda | I will leave |
O | li | -jja | Olijja | You will come |
A | li | -gula | Aligula | He will buy |
Tu | li | -komawo | Tulikomawo | We will come back |
Mu | li | -gamba | Muligamba | You will say |
Ba | li | -buuzia | Balibuuzia | They will ask |
Reflexives
Person Prefix | Added Letter | Present Stem | Distant Past Word | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
N | ly | -taaga | Ndyetaaga | I will need |
Ba | ly | -taaga | Balyetaaga | They will need |
Class Noun Examples
Zirikola → They will do
Lulikola → It will do
Ziryetaaga → They will need
Lulyetaaga → It will need