Expect that I will arrive

Question

Future subjunctive. Espera que llegare. Would I say "Espera que llegue" if I wasn't being, say, poetic about it? Future subjunctive is becoming out of use isn't it? So, espera que llegare wouldn't be heard very often would it?

Por tí volaré, Espera..... que llegare.

Answer 1

The future subjunctive is not used like people think it is. Natives stopped using that tense centuries ago; most people don't even know how to use it correctly. It just survives in legal writing, to make laws more incomprehensible for the layman, and in old sayings.

But if you want to know, "Espera que llegare" is wrong grammatically speaking, not poetic. Any future subjunctive correctly used can be replaced with present subjunctive to get a perfect sentence in modern Spanish.

Lazarus I laughed when I read that you said that the tense just exists to make laws incomprehensible for the layman lol :) - FELIZ77, May 3, 2011

They do a similar thing in England using old English and adding legal jargon to make it even more incomprehensible to the layman :) lol - FELIZ77, May 3, 2011

Answer 2

Lazarus said:

Any future subjunctive correctly used can be replaced with present subjunctive to get a perfect sentence in modern Spanish.

Wow...I've never thought of that. Great!

Yes I remember reading something a long while ago where Lazarus had said that future subjunctive was obselete/no longer in common use - FELIZ77, May 3, 2011

Answer 3

Yes, that would be llegaré, lots of tildes missing there anyway.

Answer 4

So the comma makes it correct, because it means (.......a pause in the sentence.......) Espera...... que llegaré.

NOT Espera que llegaré, BUT espera, que llegaré. (Espera...... (porque / es que) voy a llegar)

AND Espera a que llegaré (wait for me to arrive doesn't work - why not?), does espera a que llegue work? wait for me to arrive?

AND Espera que llegare doesn't work but espera que llegue does work for expect that I will arrive (why does Espera que llegare not work, future sub while present sub does, for expect, why does present and not future work here?)

AND You say to avoid all future subjunctive unless seen in literature, etc... and that if it looks like future sub. it's probably just future tense with the accent mark removed (llegaré / llegare) unless it's in a work of lit.

Gracias....

Answer 5

So, in conclusion: it's not "Expect that I will arrive". It's Wait (for me), for I will get there.

Answer 6

Yes, I think you're right.

It might be better to just say "espera que yo llegue."

Answer 7

Well, "espera que llegaré" (no coma), is like saying "wait for me to will arrive" in English.

But my example did not include an accent mark.

Answer 8

AND Espera a que llegaré (wait for me to arrive doesn't work - why not?), does espera a que llegue work? wait for me to arrive?

The correct form is: "espera a que llegue".

Say you're telling your girlfriend, who is arriving to your tough town by bus, and has never been out of her nice New Jersey neighborhood: "Whatever you do, don't move. Stay inside the station until I arrive to pick you up!" Then you might use:

(¡No te muevas de allí!) Espera a que yo llegue".

AND Espera que llegare doesn't work but espera que llegue does work for expect that I will arrive (why does Espera que llegare not work, future sub while present sub does, for expect, why does present and not future work here?)

Well, "espera que llegaré" (no coma), is like saying "wait for me to will arrive" in English.

AND You say to avoid all future subjunctive unless seen in literature, etc... and that if it looks like future sub. it's probably just future tense with the accent mark removed (llegaré / llegare) unless it's in a work of lit.

I agree with that. The future subjunctive, as Lazarus pointed out, sounds very odd and outdated in most places. So nowadays hardly anyone uses it in daily speech.

Answer 9

esperar (a) que

Yes, but this use is not really discussed there. This is not "to wait for something to happen". This is : wait - be patient, have faith: I will be there. - Gekkosan, May 3, 2011

Someone arriving is something happening. - lorenzo9, May 3, 2011

Precisely. In this case is not about an arrival, but about patience. - Gekkosan, May 3, 2011

Answer 10

Volaré, as in: "por ti volaré", and llegaré, as in: espera que llegaré, are both in future tense.

The future subjunctive would be: volare and llegare. For example:

Si no llegare en diez minutos, avisa a la policía.

If I don´t come in ten minuts, call the police.

As Lazarus said, this tense is practically used only in the legal written.

Most people would use instead the present subjunctive in the previous phrase:

Si no llegara en diez minutos, avisa a la policía.

We really shouldn't even mention that. I'm sure it must be *terribly* confusing for students to see that tense. - Gekkosan, May 3, 2011

Answer 11

So, in conclusion: it's not "Expect that I will arrive". It's Wait (for me), for I will get there.

Shouldn't it be Espera a que llegaré then?

No, that's not grammatically correct. Espera (wait), que llegaré (because / for I will arrive). - Gekkosan, May 3, 2011

Answer 12

Cuando vivo solo

sueño un horizonte

falto de palabras.

En la sombra y entre luces

todo es negro para mi mirada

Si tu no estás junto a mí . . .aquí.

Tú

en tu mundo

separado del mio por un abismo.

Oye

llamame

yo volaré

a tu mundo lejano.

Por ti volaré

espera que llegare

mi fin de trayecto eres tú

para vivirlo los dos.

......

Is he saying "Espera que llegaré" then? shouldn't it go subjunctive with espera que...? Like "espera que llegue" and why would "espera que llegare" be totally wrong if "espera que llegue" works? Gracias.

"Llegaré" certainly makes sense there: Espera, que llegaré (Wait -I'll arrive) - lazarus1907, May 2, 2011