Future Tense
Theory
Like we said in the general verbs section, we always start with a 3 letter root when conjugating verbs.
To conjugate in the future tense, depending on the number and gender, there are certain letters that we add to the 3 letter root. In the future tense, the extra letters are added BEFORE the root. Though there are some letters added after the root, the future tense is the only tense that has extra letters before the root. Therefore, if you see extra letters before the 3-letter the root then you know that it is being conjugated in the future tense (Marcuson).
Below is a table of the suffixes that are added in the future tense based on the pronoun. In the example section, we will see this being applied (Marcuson).
|
Pronoun English |
Pronoun Hebrew |
Prefix added | Suffix added |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | אני | א | NA |
| You (M, S) | אתה | ת | NA |
| You (F, S) | את | ת | י |
| He | הוא | י | NA |
| She | היא | ת | NA |
| We | אנחנו | נ | NA |
| You (M, P) | אתם | ת | ו |
| You (F, P) | אתן | ת | ו |
| They (M, P) | הם | י | ו |
| They (M, P) | הן | י | ו |
Examples/Pictures
In this case the 3-letter root is שמר
| I will guard | אני אשמר |
| You (M, S) will guard | אתה תשמר |
| You (F, S) will guard | את תשמרי |
| He will guard | הוא ישמר |
| She will guard | היא תשמר |
| We will guard | אנחנו נשמר |
| You (M, P) will guard | אתם תשמרו |
| You (F, P) will guard | אתן תשמרו |
| They (M, P) will guard | הם ישמרו |
| They (M, P) will guard | הן ישמרו |
Questions and Answers
Q: There are 2 sets of pronouns where the masculine and feminine form have the same conjugation: you (P) and they (P). How do we distinguish between these?
A: It turns out that these are spelled and pronounced the same way. The way to distinguish is based on the context they are being used in. [see the Interesting Points section below for more on this topic]
Q: Is there a way of differentiating between you (M, S) and she (F, S) considering that they have the same conjugation?
A: It turns out that these are spelled and pronounced the same way. The way to distinguish is based on the context.
Interesting Points
In Biblical Hebrew, there is a different conjugation for you (F, P) and for they (F, P). They are both conjugated as תשמרנה, so they have a ת as a prefix and נה as a suffix. All in all, there would now be a way of distinguishing (based on conjugation) the masculine and feminine forms of you (P) and they (P) but there would nevertheless not be a way of distinguing you (F, P) and they (F, P) without context.