INTRODUCTION
A fortune teller might be able to tell many things about you, even though most of them are probably not honest enough. Truth be told, it’s very hard to say what things will happen for certain, other than death, taxes and bean spouts tasting like death to me. For example, what will happen in a 100 years’ time? What about a 1000? How about expressing desires and goals, of things that you plan to do or events that will happen somewhere far from now. We’re back to the future.
Future tense is one of the three tenses in Nepali, used to denote or express actions that will occur or has not happened yet. It can also be used to denote a state that will exist, which does not right now. In Nepali, the future tense is called भविष्यत् काल (bhaviṣyat kāl). For example, statements below in English all denote actions that will occur or states that will exist later on (verbs in italics):
- John will eat the cake.
- Mary will be going to an adventure.
- I will have played chess.
Thus, the future tense is used to denote a sense of the ‘future’ time. There are three aspects of future tense, parallel with English:
- Future indefinite tense
- Future progressive tense
- Future perfect tense
Now, we shall see how verbs will conjugate according to the grammatical person used.
VOCABULARY
| खानु (khānu) | To eat |
| रोक्नु (roknu) | To stop |
| आउनु (āunu) | To come |
| बिर्सनु (birsanu) | To forget |
| म (ma) | I |
| हामी (hāmī) | We |
| तँ (ta~) | You[lr] |
| तिमी (timī) | You[mr] |
| तपाईँ (tapāī~) | You[hr] |
| ऊ (ū) | He/She |
| उनी (unī) | He[mr]/ She[mr] |
| उहाँ (uhā~) | He[hr]/ She[hr] |
| उनीहरू (unī-harū) | They[mr] |
EXTRACTING THE ROOT OF THE VERB
We first get the lemma, or the basic form of the verb. Usually, we remove the -नु (-nu) from the verb to obtain the root of the verb. For example:
Root ending in a vowel sound | खानु (khānu) > खा (khā) | to eat
Root ending in a consonant sound | रोक्नु (roknu) > रोक् (rok) | to stop
Sometimes, the process is a bit more complicated as we have to modify the root slightly. More information on this can be found on Verbs: Roots.
EXCEPTIONS
The verb हुनु (hunu) or ‘to be’ in Nepali is irregular and thus does not follow the conjugation rules given below. Thus, you should not try to attempt conjugating this verb. Another verb, जानु (jānu) or ‘to go’, also behaves slightly differently in future perfect tense. When such, the root ‘ग’ (ga) should be used instead.
Other verbs are regular in case of future tense and you can apply the rules below for all the other verbs. High honour forms may take different conjugations.
FUTURE INDEFINITE TENSE
The future indefinite tense, also known as simple future tense, is a tense used to describe actions in future time that have not happened. In Nepali, it is called सामान्य भविष्यत् काल (sāmānya bhaviṣyat kāl). For example in English, a statement in future indefinite tense would be:
John will eat the cake.Steps
- Add the required suffix (or ending) to the root depending on the grammatical person.
I: म (ma), add नेछु (nechu)
रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक् (rok) + नेछु (nechu) = रोक्नेछु (roknechu)
खानु (khānu) | खा (khā) + नेछु (nechu) = खानेछु (khānechu)We: हामी (hāmī), add नेछौँ (nechau~)
रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक् (rok) + नेछौँ (nechau~) = रोक्नेछौँ (roknechau~)
खानु (khānu) | खा (khā) + नेछौँ (nechau~) = खानेछौँ (khānechau~)You[lr]: तँ (ta~), add नेछस् (nechas) if masculine or नेछेस् (neches) if feminine
रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक् (rok) + नेछस् (nechas) = रोक्नेछस् (roknechas)
खानु (khānu) | खा (khā) + नेछस् (nechas) = खानेछस् (khānechas)रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक् (rok) + नेछेस् (neches) = रोक्नेछेस् (rokneches)
खानु (khānu) | खा (khā) + नेछेस् (nehes) = खानेछेस् (khāneches)You[mr]: तिमी (timī), add नेछौ (nechau) if masculine or नेछ्यौ (nechyau) if feminine
रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक् (rok) + नेछौ (nechau) = रोक्नेछौ (roknechau)
खानु (khānu) | खा (khā) + नेछौ (nechau) = खानेछौ (khānechau) रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक् (rok) + नेछ्यौ (nechyau) = रोक्नेछ्यौ (roknechyau)
खानु (khānu) | खा (khā) + नेछ्यौ (nechyau) = खानेछ्यौ (khānechyau)He: ऊ (ū), add नेछ (necha)
रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक् (rok) + नेछ (necha) = रोक्नेछ (roknecha)
खानु (khānu) | खा (khā) + नेछ (necha) = खानेछ (khānecha)She: ऊ (ū), add नेछे (neche)
रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक् (rok) + नेछे (neche) = रोक्नेछे (rokneche)
खानु (khānu) | खा (khā) + नेछे (neche) = खानेछे (khāneche)He[mr]/She[mr]/They[mr]: उनी (unī) and उनीहरू (unī-harū), add नेछन् (nechan) if masculine or नेछिन् (nechin) if feminine
रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक् (rok) + नेछन् (nechan) = रोक्नेछन् (roknechan)
खानु (khānu) | खा (khā) + नेछन् (nechan) = खानेछन् (khānechan)रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक् (rok) + नेछिन् (nechin) = रोक्नेछिन् (roknechin)
खानु (khānu) | खा (khā) + नेछिन् (nechin) = खानेछिन् (khānechin) You[hr]/He[hr]/She[hr]/They[hr]: तपाईँ (tapāī~) and उहाँ (uhā~), leave the basic form intact and add हुनेछ (hunecha) [EXCEPTION]
रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक्नु (roknu) + हुनेछ (hunecha) = रोक्नुहुनेछ (roknuhunecha)
खानु (khānu) | खानु (khānu) + हुनेछ (hunecha) = खानुहुनेछ (khānuhunecha) An example conjugation chart for रोक्नु (roknu) for the future indefinite:
| | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | |||
| Singular | Plural | Singular/Plural | Singular/Plural | |||
| Gender | | | zero | fem | zero | fem |
| Low/neutral respect | रोक्नेछु (roknechu) | रोक्नेछौँ (roknechau~) | रोक्नेछस् (roknechas) | रोक्नेछेस् (rokneches) | रोक्नेछ (roknecha) | रोक्नेछे (rokneche) |
| Medium respect | – | – | रोक्नेछौ (roknechau) | रोक्नेछ्यौ (roknechyau) | रोक्नेछन् (roknechan) | रोक्नेछिन् (roknechin) |
| High respect | – | – | रोक्नुहुनेछ (roknuhunecha) | – | रोक्नुहुनेछ (roknuhunecha) | – |
Note | 3rd person low/neutral respect pronouns have no plural forms. Use medium respect for conjugations instead. | When the gendered form is not indicated, use the zero form.
FUTURE PROGRESSIVE TENSE
The future progressive tense, also known as future continuous tense, is a tense used to describe actions in future time that will be happening in a continuous fashion. In Nepali, it is called अपूर्ण भविष्यत् काल (apūrṇa bhaviṣyat kāl). For example in English, a statement in future progressive tense would be:
John will be eating the cake.Steps
- If the root ends in a syllable or a vowel sound, add ँ (~) to the last syllable. If the root ends in a consonant sound, skip this step. For example: खा (khā) + ँ (~) = खाँ (khā~)
- Add दै (dai) to the end of the modified root obtained in step 1.
- Add a space ( ).
- Add the required ending to the modified root obtained in step 3 depending on the grammatical person. These suffixes are the various forms of hunecha, which you can find here. A shortcut: simply use the suffixes for future indefinite but add hu in front of it.
The below are demonstrations on how you can carry this out.
I: म (ma), add हुनेछु (hunechu)
रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक् (rok) + दै (dai) + [space] + हुनेछु (hunechu) = रोक्दै हुनेछु (rokdai hunechu)
खानु (khānu) | [खा (khā) + ँ (~)] + दै (dai) + [space] + हुनेछु (hunechu) = खाँ (khā~) + दै (dai) + [space] + हुनेछु (hunechu) = खाँदै हुनेछु (khā~dai hunechu)He: ऊ (ū), add हुनेछ (hunecha)
रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक् (rok) + दै (dai) + [space] + हुनेछ (hunecha) = रोक्दै हुनेछ (rokdai hunecha)
खानु (khānu) | खाँ (khā~) + दै (dai) + [space] + हुनेछ (hunecha) = खाँदै हुनेछ (khā~dai hunecha)You[hr]/He[hr]/She[hr]/They[hr]: तपाईँ (tapāī~) and उहाँ (uhā~), add हुनुहुनेछ (hunuhunecha)
रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक्दै (rokdai) + हुनुहुनेछ (hunuhunecha) = रोक्दै हुनुहुनेछ (rokdai hunuhunecha)
खानु (khānu) | खाँदै (khām̐dai) + हुनुहुनेछ (hunuhunecha) = खाँदै हुनुहुनेछ (khām̐dai hunuhunecha) An example conjugation chart for रोक्नु (roknu) for the future progressive:
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | ||||
| Singular | Plural | Singular/Plural | Singular/Plural | |||
| Gender | zero | fem | zero | fem | ||
| Low/neutral respect | रोक्दै हुनेछु (rokdai hunechu) | रोक्दै हुनेछौँ (rokdai hunechau~) | रोक्दै हुनेछस् (rokdai hunechas) | रोक्दै हुनेछेस् (rokdai huneches) | रोक्दै हुनेछ (rokdai hunecha) | रोक्दै हुनेछे (rokdai huneche) |
| Medium respect | – | – | रोक्दै हुनेछौ (rokdai hunechau) | – | रोक्दै हुनेछन् (rokdai hunechan) | रोक्दै हुनेछिन् (rokdai hunechin) |
| High respect | – | – | रोक्दै हुनुहुनेछ (rokdai hunuhunecha) | – | रोक्दै हुनुहुनेछ (rokdai hunuhunecha) | – |
FUTURE PERFECT TENSE
The future perfect tense is a tense used to describe actions that will be finished at some point in the future. In Nepali, it is called पूर्ण भविष्यत् काल (pūrṇa bhaviṣyat kāl). For example in English, a statement in future perfect tense would be:
John will have eaten the cake. Steps
- If the root ends in a single vowel sound, remove it. Example: आउ (āu) > आ (ā). If the root is polysyllabic (i.e. has more than one syllable) and ends in an –a or an –i sound, e.g. बिर्स (birsa), discard that sound as well. E.g. बिर्स (birsa) > बिर्स् (birs). If the root ends in a consonant or syllable sound other than -a or -i, skip this step.
- Add एको (eko)/ एकी (ekī)/ एका (ekā) to the end of the modified root obtained in step 1. The first for neuter/masculine (zero) singular, the second for feminine singular and the third for plural cases. Remember that the consonant will take on a diacritic while taking up the vowel sound.
- Add a space ( ).
- Add the required ending to the modified root obtained in step 3 depending on the grammatical person. These suffixes are identical to the ones in future progressive tense. Note that these suffixes or endings are the different forms of the hunecha, which you can find here.
I: म (ma), add हुनेछु (hunehu)
रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक् (rok) + एको (eko) + [space] + हुनेछु (hunechu) = रोकेको हुनेछु (rokeko hunechu)
खानु (khānu) | खा (khā) + एको (eko) + [space] + हुनेछु (hunechu) = खाएको हुनेछु (khāeko hunechu)
आउनु (āunu) | आ (ā) + एको (eko) + [space] + हुनेछु (hunechu) = आएको हुनेछु (āeko hunechu)
बिर्सनु (birsanu) | बिर्स् (birs) + एको (eko) + [space] + हुनेछु (hunechu) = बिर्सेको हुनेछु (birseko hunechu)He: ऊ (ū), add हुनेछ (hunecha)
रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक् (rok) + एको (eko) + [space] + हुनेछ (hunecha) = रोकेको हुनेछ (rokeko hunecha)
खानु (khānu) | खा (khā) + एको (eko) + [space] + हुनेछ (hunecha) = खाएको हुनेछ (khāeko hunecha) You[hr]/He[hr]/She[hr]/They[hr]: तपाईँ (tapāī~) and उहाँ (uhā~), leave the verb intact, add भ (bha), then add एको (eko) [or its forms], and finally add हुनेछ (hunecha) or हुनेछे (huneche) if feminine [EXCEPTION]
रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक्नु (roknu) + भ (bha) + एको (eko) + [space] + हुनेछ (hunecha) = रोक्नुभएको हुनेछ (roknubhaeko hunecha)
खानु (khānu) | खानु (khānu) + भ (bha) + एको (eko) + [space] + हुनेछ (hunecha) = खानुभएको हुनेछ (khānubhaeko hunecha)An example conjugation chart for रोक्नु (roknu) for the future perfect:
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | ||||
| Singular | Plural | Singular/Plural | Singular/Plural | |||
| Gender | zero | fem | zero | fem | ||
| Low/neutral respect | रोकेको हुनेछु (rokeko hunechu) | रोकेका हुनेछौँ (rokekā hunechau~) | रोकेको हुनेछस् (rokeko hunechas) | रोकेकी हुनेछेस् (rokekī huneches) | रोकेको हुनेछ (rokeko hunecha) | रोकेकी हुनेछे (rokekī huneche) |
| Medium respect | – | – | रोकेको हुनेछौ (rokeko hunechau) | – | रोकेका हुनेछन् (rokekā hunechan) | रोकेकी हुनेछिन् (rokekī hunechin) |
| High respect | – | – | रोक्नुभएको हुनेछ (roknubhaeko hunecha) | रोक्नुभएकी हुनेछे (roknubhaekī huneche) | रोक्नुभएको हुनेछ (roknubhaeko hunecha) | रोक्नुभएकी हुनेछे (roknubhaekī huneche) |
Note | You can also simply use –eko (the null form) for all cases. For example, you could say rokeko hunechau~ instead of rokekā hunechau~.
SUMMARY
- Future tense is one of the three tenses in Nepali, used to denote or express actions that will occur or has not happened yet
- There are three aspects: indefinite, progressive, perfect
- The root can be extracted by removing the –nu from the lemma
- To this root, we add various suffixes according to the grammatical person
- The future indefinite tense, also known as simple future tense, is a tense used to describe actions in future time that have not happened
- The future progressive tense, also known as future continuous tense, is a tense used to describe actions in future time that will be happening in a continuous fashion
- The future perfect tense is a tense used to describe actions that will be finished at some point in the future
EXERCISES
A. COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING TABLE FOR THE VERB LEKHNU. TENSE: FUTURE PROGRESSIVE.
| | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | |||
| Singular | Plural | Singular/Plural | Singular/Plural | |||
| Gender | | | zero | fem | zero | fem |
| Low/neutral respect | lekhdai hunechu | |||||
| Medium respect | – | – | – | lekhdai hunechin | ||
| High respect | – | – | lekhdai hunuhunecha | – | – | |
B. CONJUGATE THE FOLLOWING VERBS CORRECTLY.
1. सुत्नु (sutnu) | to sleep | future indefinite | first person | plural
2. आउनु (āunu) | to come | future progressive | first person | singular
3. हाँस्नु (hā~snu) | to laugh | future perfect | third person | plural | high respect
4. फर्कनु (pharkanu) | to return | future perfect | second person | singular | low respect | feminine
5. गर्नु (garnu) | to do | future indefinite | second person | singular | medium respect | zero
ANSWERS
A.
| | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | |||
| Singular | Plural | Singular/Plural | Singular/Plural | |||
| Gender | | | zero | fem | zero | fem |
| Low/neutral respect | lekhdai hunechu | lekhdai hunechau~ | lekhdai hunechas | lekhdai huneches | lekhdai hunechas | lekhdai huneches |
| Medium respect | – | – | lekhdai hunechau | – | lekhdai hunechan | lekhdai hunechin |
| High respect | – | – | lekhdai hunuhunecha | – | lekhdai hunuhunecha | – |
B.1. सुत्नेछौँ (sutnechau~)
B.2. आउँदै हुनेछु (āu~dai hunechu)
B.3. हाँसेका हुनेछ (ha~seka hunecha)
B.4. फर्किएकी हुनेछेस् (pharkiekī huneches)
B.5. गर्नेछौ (garnechau)
Hey! Great website!
There’s a typo in the future perfect 2nd person feminine high respect conjugation. The transliteration says che (as it should) but the actual nepali text says cha.
Thank you for your kind words and pointing out the typo. It has been corrected. 🙂