The Expression of the Future

Abstract

The concept of time in relation to action finds expression in the verbal forms of a great many, although not all, languages. ‘In English we have made up our minds that all action must be conceived of in reference to three standard times’,’-the present, the past, and the future. Of these three, the devices for the expression of the future-their origin, development, and present use-receive from our grammarians the least satisfactory treatment. The common school grammars of modern English usually give as the one means of indicating future time the combination of shall and will with the infinitive form of the verb and name it the future tense.2 Some give two forms of the future tense: one for simple futurity and another for detern~imtion.~ As a matter of fact, however, the use of the auxiliaries shall and will with the infinitive is but one of several important methods of expressing the future and certainly does not deserve the title ‘the future tense’. Some other combinations having a claim to be included in an English future tense are: (a) the verb to be + prepositional infinitive. (He i s to go with the committee.) (b) the verb to be-about + prepositional infinitive. (The man is about to dive from the bridge.) (c) the verb to be + going + prepositional infinitive. (They are going to go by automobile.) Then too, the present form of the verb frequently refers to future time both in subordinate clauses and in independent sentences when some other word than the verb, or the context in general, indicates the time idea. (He returns from his trip tomorrow.) On the other hand, the use of shall and will to express determination (sometimes called ‘the emphatic future’, or ‘the colored future’, or ‘the (If it rains, I cannot go.)