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.

• गमिष्यन्तं नरं पश्यामः

  gamiṣyantaṃ naraṃ paśyāmaḥ

  We see the man who is about to go. (literally, "We see the will-be-going man.")

• स्वकुशलमयीं हारयिष्यन् प्रवृत्तिम्

  svakuśalamayīṃ hārayiṣyan pravṛttim

  Intending to convey tidings of his welfare. (literally, "will-be-causing-to-carry tidings consisting of his welfare) Meghaduta 1.2

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."

• I remember the man.
• I will remember the man.
• The man will be remembered by me.
• The man is to be remembered by me.

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.

• We saw the to-be-remembered man.
• We see the to-be-remembered man.
• We will see the to-be-remembered man.

"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 ṛ.

• गम् → गन्तव्य

  gam → gantavya

  To be gone (to)

  Note the change from gam to gan. I do not know why this occurs.

• युध् → योद्धव्य

  yudh → yoddhavya

  To be fought

• कृ → कर्तव्य

  kṛ → kartavya

  To be done

• भू → भवितव्य

  bhū → bhavitavya

  To be become/caused

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

• स्था → स्थेय

  sthā → stheya

  To be stood, stationed, or placed

• जि → जेय

  ji → jeya

  To be conquered

• भू → भाव्य

  bhū → bhāvya

  To be become/caused

• कृ → कार्य

  kṛ → kārya

  To be done

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

ṛ

ṛ (unchanged)

• युज् → योज्य

  yuj → yojya

  To be joined (with)

• वच् → वाच्य

  vac → vācya

  To be spoken

• दृश् → दृष्य

  dṛś → dṛśya

  To be seen

Suffix 3: anīya

The root vowel is strengthened to the medium level.

• भू → भवनीय

  bhū → bhavanīya

  To be become/caused

• ईक्ष् → ईक्षणीय

  īkṣ → īkṣaṇīya

  To be seen

• चिन्त् → चिन्तनीय

  cint → cintanīya

  To be thought

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:

• कैर् मया सह योद्धव्यम्

  kair mayā saha yoddhavyam

  Whom must I fight? (literally "(this is) to-be-fought by me and who else?")

As a noun

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

• प्रेक्ष् → प्रेक्षणीय

  prekṣ → prekṣaṇīya

  behold, see → to be beheld, a thing to be beheld; a beautiful sight, a spectacle

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.