Future Tense

The Future Tense Verb

The Kind of Action of the Future Tense:

Primarily punctiliar, though linear in some contexts. Often used with the Indicative to indicate future time.

The Predicative  Future 

This use denotes an event that is expected to take place in the future. This is the most common use of the tense.

The Progressive Future 

This use conveys action as going on in the future. The emphasis is simply on the action in progress in the future. The writer thought of it as continuing, not that it was going to be continued.

The
Imperatival  Future

This use is practically an imperative in sense, for it involves the will, either of the speaker or of the subject. Since the imperative naturally relates to the future, it is not an unnatural usage.

The Deliberative Future 

This use denotes the future by expressing a rhetorical question, i.e. one which does not really expect an answer. These questions require deliberation concerning the possibility, or the desirability, or the necessity of a proposed course of activity. It occurs frequently in quotations from the Septuagint.

The Gnomic Future 

This use refers to a general or timeless truth, which is valid for all times. This action is to be expected under certain circumstances. It is used infrequently in the New Testament.

The Periphrastic Future 

This use emphasizes the continuance of an action. It is used to express an action which one intends to do, or of that which is certain or destined to take place. It is similar to the “Progressive Future,” with the thought of continuance or customariness emphasized. It is formed by the future tense of εἰμί with the […]