Module 08 · Past, future, prefixes · Pagātne, nākotne, priedēkļi · Level A1

Future tense

Nākotne

The simple future is usually formed from the infinitive stem with -s-. Some verbs change their stem; learn those forms separately.

Endings

Special stems

• Verbs in -st have different stems: saprast → sapratīšu, atrast → atradīšu, ēst → ēdīšu, just → jutīšu, krist → kritīšu, but nest → nesīšu, aizmirst → aizmirsīšu. There is no universal s → ī substitution.
• Infinitives ending in -zt: lauzt → lauzīšu.
• iet → iešu, dot → došu, nākt → nākšu.

Reflexive verbs

Tiksimies rīt! — see you tomorrow (literally "we will meet tomorrow"). Es mācīšos vairāk. — I will study more.

Marker words

rīt (tomorrow), parīt (the day after tomorrow), drīz (soon), vēlāk (later), nākamnedēļ / nākamgad (next week / next year), pēc stundas (in an hour), kādreiz (someday), nākotnē (in the future).

Future in conditional clauses

After ja (if) and kad (when), Latvian uses the future tense in both clauses — unlike English, which shifts the "if/when" clause to the present tense: Ja būs laiks, es atnākšu. ("If there will be time, I will come" — English says "If there is time..."). Kad tu atbrauksi, mēs iesim uz jūru. ("When you will arrive..." — English: "When you arrive...").

Exercise

1) I will work tomorrow. 2) We will go to Riga. 3) You will understand. 4) When will you come?

Open the lesson in the trainer — with exercises and a “done” mark →Module test 08