Spanish Future Subjunctive

Quick Answer

The subjunctive is one of the three moods in Spanish, the other two being the indicative (actions, events, facts) and the imperative (commands). You can find more on the differences between the subjunctive and the indicative here!

The future subjunctive (el futuro del subjuntivo) is rarely used in modern Spanish. Instead, the present subjunctive is used in virtually all cases in which the future subjunctive would have been used historically. Nonetheless, the future subjunctive does still appear in modern times, primarily in legal documents and literary contexts, as well as a few classic refranes(proverbs), so it’s good to be able to recognize it.

Finding the Future Subjunctive Stem

The stem for the future subjunctive is the same as that of the imperfect subjunctive, or the third person plural of the preterite (without the -ron at the end).

Preterite Form	Future Subjunctive Stem
hablaron	habla-
tuvieron	tuvie-
vieron	vie-

Future Subjunctive Stem Examples

Infinitive	Third Person Preterite	Future Subjunctive Stem
caber	cupieron	cupie-
dar	dieron	die-
decir	dijeron	dije-
dormir	durmieron	durmie-
estar	estuvieron	estuvie-
haber	hubieron	hubie-
hacer	hicieron	hicie-
ir	fueron	fue-
leer	leyeron	leye-
tener	tuvieron	tuvie-
pedir	pidieron	pidie-
poder	pudieron	pudie-
poner	pusieron	pusie-
preferir	prefirieron	prefirie-
querer	quisieron	quisie-
saber	supieron	supie-
sentir	sintieron	sintie-
ser	fueron	fue-
traducir	tradujeron	traduje-
traer	trajeron	traje-

Irregular Future Subjunctive

Any verb that is irregular in the third person plural of the preterite will maintain that irregularity in the future subjunctive. (Ex. tener)

Future Subjunctive Endings

All conjugations for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs have the same future subjunctive endings:

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

The nosotros form of the future subjunctive often has a tilde.

Examples: hubiéremos, supiéremos

Future Subjunctive Examples

examples
Adonde fueres, haz lo que vieres. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
El que insultare a la reina será castigado. He who insults the queen will be punished.
Sea lo que fuere el origen de los productos, serán gravados. Whatever the origin of the products may be, they will be subject to taxation.
"Digan lo que dijeren, el escritor nace, no se hace. - Augusto Monterroso No matter what they say, writers are born, not made. - Augusto Monterroso