The simple future tense

Also known as: the s future, the second future, bhaviṣyan (“future”), lṛṭ

The simple future tense refers to events that have not yet occurred:

• गम् → गमिष्यामि
  gam → gamiṣyāmi
  go → I will go.
  

We call this the simple future tense because Sanskrit has another tense-mood that refers specifically to distant future events.

Making the stem

To make the stem of the simple future tense, we strengthen the root's vowel and add -sya to the end of the root. Some roots don't use iṭ:

• नी → नेष्य
  nī → neṣya
  lead → will lead
  

and others do:

• वन्द् → वन्दिष्य
  vand → vandiṣya
  venerate → will venerate
  

We also add iṭ if the root ends in ṛ:

• कृ → करिष्य
  kṛ → kariṣya
  do → will do
  

• स्मृ → स्मरिष्य
  smṛ → smariṣya
  remember → will remember
  

And a few other roots use iṭ here as well:

• गम् → गमिष्य
  gam → gamiṣya
  go → will go
  

Since sya starts with a consonant, it may cause many sandhi changes if the root ends with a consonant. Here are some examples:

• लभ् → लप्स्य
  labh → lapsya
  obtain → will obtain
  

• बुध् → भोत्स्य
  budh → bhotsya
  awaken → will awaken
  

• दह् → धक्ष्य
  dah → dhakṣya
  burn → will burn
  

Finally, there are several slightly irregular stems. Here are some common ones:

• दृश् → द्रक्ष्य
  dṛś → drakṣya
  see → will see
  

• मन् → मंस्य
  man → maṃsya
  think → will think
  

Adding endings

We use the same ending and pada as we would in the present tense. In the examples below, the first result on the right is in the present tense, and the second is in the simple future tense:

• गम् → गच्छति, गमिष्यति
  gam → gacchati, gamiṣyati
  go → goes, will go
  

• लभ् → लभते, लप्स्यते
  labh → labhate, lapsyate
  obtain → obtains, will obtain
  

• कृ → करोति, करिष्यति
  kṛ → karoti, kariṣyati
  do → does, will do
  

• कृ → कुरुते, करिष्यते
  kṛ → kurute, kariṣyate
  do → does, will do
  

Review

1. What suffix do we use to create the stem of the simple future?

2. Which endings do we use in the simple future?