Future Subjunctive

Question

Overview

The future subjunctive (el futuro del subjuntivo) is a form rarely used in modern Spanish. In the past was used in all cases that WEIRDO verb (independent phrase) was in the present or future and referred to a hypothetical future or present action. Nowadays, the present subjunctive takes over all the cases that you would have used the future perfect, but you may still see it in literature or legal documents, so it is good to be able to recognize it.

Future Subjunctive

The stem for the future subjunctive is the same as that of the imperfect subjunctive, the 3rd person plural of the preterit (without the -ron).

• Ustedes hablaron -> habla-
• Ellos tuvieron -> tuvie-
• Ellas vieron -> vie-

Irregular Future Subjunctive

Any verb that is irregular in the 3rd person plural of the preterit will maintain that irregularity in the future subjunctive.

How to Find the Future Subjunctive Stem

infinitive	3rd person preterite	imperfect subjunctive stem		infinitive	3rd person preterite	imperfect subjunctive stem
caber	cupieron	cupie-		pedir	pidieron	pidie-
dar	dieron	die-		poder	pudieron	pudie-
decir	dijeron	dije-		poner	pusieron	pusie-
dormir	durmieron	durmie-		preferir	prefirieron	prefirie-
estar	estuvieron	estuvie		querer	quisieron	quisie-
haber	hubieron	hubie-		saber	supieron	supie-
hacer	hicieron	hicie-		sentir	sintieron	sintie-
ir	fueron	fue-		ser	fueron	fue-
leer	leyeron	leye-		traducir	tradujeron	traduje-
tener	tuvieron	tuvie-		traer	trajeron	traje-

All conjugations (-ar, -er, and -ir) have the same endings:

Future Subjunctive Endings

yo	-re	nosotros	-remos
tú	-res	vosotros	-reis
usted, él, ella	-re	ustedes, ellos, ellas	-ren

Similar Endings!

The future subjunctive endings are very similar to imperfect subjunctive endings. The only difference is where the imperfect subjunctive uses an a, the future subjunctive uses an e.

Examples

• No creo que vinieren mis abuelos. (I don´t believe my grandparents will come.)
• Espero que me diere un regalo bueno. (I hope that she will give me a good gift.)
• El que recibiere la mayoría de los votos será presidente. (The one who receives the most votes will be president.)

Exercises

1) Conjugate each verb in parenthesis to the future subjunctive to complete each sentence.

Example: Espero que te (sentir) mejor mañana. ->sintieres

1. No creo que mi perro (morir).
2. Quizás nosotros (hablar) luego.
3. Espero que él (bailar) en la fiesta.
4. Ojalá que ellos (venir).
5. No sé que yo (tener) el dinero.

Answers

1. muriere
2. habláremos
3. bailare
4. vinieren
5. tuviere