Future Participles

Introduction

We have just finished learning about three different forms of the present participle. Here, we will do the same for the future participles. Unlike the present participles, these participles cannot be translated to just one word.

Conceptually, the parasmaipada and ātmanepada participles are simple. But the future passive participle is more difficult.

parasmaipada and ātmanepada

Both of these forms follow the pattern of the present participle. Instead of using the stem for the present tense, however, we use the stem for the ordinary future tense. So, we get participles like bhaviṣyat ("will be becoming/being/creating") and bhaviṣyamāna (essentially, the same thing).

Often, these two future participles describe what is "about" to happen or what the noun "intends" to do.

These participles are straightforward. Now let's look at the future passive participle.

The future passive participle

To see what the future passive participle really means, let's see how it grow from the simpler sentence "I remember the man."

The first example is a basic sentence in the present tense. Each step after this first sentence adds a piece of our new verb form: the second adds the future tense, the third adds the passive, and the fourth adds the "participle" sense of the word. Then, we end up with the future passive participle.

"Future passive participle" is a long term, so let's use the term FPP for short.

Perhaps you've seen the abbreviation Q.E.D. used before. The full phrase, which is in Latin, is quod erat demonstrandum. Here, demonstrandum is an FPP! The entire phrase translates to "which was to be demonstrated."

The FPP can be formed by three different suffixes. Many roots can use any of these three endings, but some roots use only a few. I recommend that you focus on recognizing the endings instead of applying them.

Suffix 1: tavya

The root vowel is strengthened to the medium level. Either tavya or itavya is added to the end. But, these roots always use tavya instead of itavya: gam, han, and roots ending in the short vowel .

Suffix 2: ya

These changes occur when the root ends in a vowel:

Original vowel
New Vowel
ā, i, ī
e
u, ū
o or au
ṛ, ṝ
ār

These changes occur when the root vowel is followed by a consonant.

Original vowel
New Vowel
i
e, but not always
u
o, but not always
a
ā, but not always
(unchanged)

Suffix 3: anīya

The root vowel is strengthened to the medium level.

Verbs like īkṣ and cint are never strengthened to the medium level. We covered this issue when we talked about roots like nind and jīv.

Using the FPP

In addition to being a participle, the FPP can act in these ways:

As a "situation"

The FPP can be used without any sort of object. When it is used like this, the FPP is in the neuter singular:

As a noun

The FPP can be used as a noun. Consider the result below, which comes from prekṣ (pra + īkṣ).

As a suggestion or duty

A word like kārya usually means "to be done." But, it can also mean "should be done" or "must be done."

Other meanings

The FPP has a few other more nuanced meanings, and we will cover these meanings later on.

Review

In this lesson, we refined our understanding of the participle and saw how it can express different tenses from the tense in the sentence's main verb. We studied the future participle in all three of its forms: parasmaipada, ātmanepada, and the passive form. We examined the future passive participle (or "FPP" for short) in more detail: the FPP uses three suffixes, but they all have the same meaning.

In the next lesson, we will study the past participles, which are the most important of all.

Participles — bhū
भू parasmaipada ātmanepada Passive
Past Tense ???
???
???
???
भूत
bhūta
Present Tense भवत्
bhavat
भवमान
bhavamāna
भूयमान
bhūyamāna
Future Tense भविष्यत्
bhaviṣyat
भविष्यमान
bhaviṣyamāna
भवितव्य, भाव्य, भवनीय
bhavitavya, bhāvya, bhavanīya