The Future Subjunctive
The future subjunctive is a rare, formal tense: Se alguén quixer participar, pode inscribirse (anyone who wishes to take part may register). You will mostly meet it in legal texts and set phrases like sexa como for (be that as it may).
How It Works
How to form it
Start from the third person plural of the preterite, drop -ron, and add the endings:
- cantaron → cantar, cantares, cantar, cantarmos, cantardes, cantaren
- fixeron → fixer, fixeres, fixer...
- quixeron → quixer; tiveron → tiver; puideron → puider; souberon → souber
- foron → for (for both ser and ir)
For regular verbs the forms look exactly like the personal infinitive, but the two are used differently. For irregular verbs the difference is visible: facer (infinitive) but fixer (future subjunctive).
Where it appears
It refers to a possible future event, in a clause that depends on a main verb in the present, future or imperative:
- Conditions: Se alguén quixer participar, pode inscribirse.
- Time: Cando puideres, chámame.
- Relatives: Os que desexaren participar deberán inscribirse.
Where you will meet it
It was common in medieval Galician. Today it survives in laws, regulations, careful writing and fixed expressions: sexa como for, se Deus quixer, and the proverb Onde fores, fai como vires. In everyday speech, people use the present instead: Se alguén quere participar..., Cando poidas, chámame. You need to recognize it, but you rarely need to produce it.
Examples (6)
- Se alguén quixer participar, pode inscribirse.
Anyone who wishes to take part may register.
Quixer comes from quixeron. In everyday speech: Se alguén quere participar.
- Sexa como for, temos que rematalo hoxe.
Be that as it may, we have to finish it today.
Sexa como for is a fixed phrase.
- Se Deus quixer, vémonos no verán.
God willing, we will see each other in the summer.
- Os que desexaren participar deberán inscribirse antes do día dez.
Those who wish to take part must register before the tenth.
Typical of rules and official notices.
- Cando puideres, chámame.
Call me when you can.
Formal or literary; in conversation you would say Cando poidas, chámame.
- Onde fores, fai como vires.
Wherever you go, do as you see.
A traditional proverb: fores comes from ir and vires from ver.
Common Mistakes
Using the future subjunctive after que in a noun clause.
Espero que viñeres mañá.Espero que veñas mañá.After verbs like esperar or querer + que, Galician uses the present subjunctive.
Building an irregular verb's form from the infinitive.
Se alguén querer participar, pode inscribirse.Se alguén quixer participar, pode inscribirse.The future subjunctive uses the preterite stem, quix-, not the infinitive querer.
How It Connects
Learn This First
The future subjunctive is a recognition-focused finite form distinct from the personal infinitive.
Related Patterns
- Preterite of facer and dicir
Gives the irregular preterite stems, such as fix- and dix-.
Level 2 - Present Subjunctive of Regular Verbs
The everyday replacement in many clauses.
Level 3 - se + PresentReal Conditions with Se
Shows the everyday way to express a real condition.
Level 2 - calquera / onde queira queAnyone and Wherever
Another way to say whoever or wherever in modern Galician.
Level 5
Words in This Pattern
Practice The Future Subjunctive in Bubblegum
Poppy, your AI tutor, writes Galician lessons at your level. Tap any grammar point in a lesson to see its full explanation.
