-are/-ares/-are/-áremos/-areis/-aren

Future Subjunctive -AR

Level 6

The future subjunctive for -AR verbs (endings: -are, -ares, -are, -áremos, -areis, -aren) expresses a potential or hypothetical action in the future. It is now almost exclusively found in legal texts, old literature, and proverbs.

How It Works

The future subjunctive, though rare in contemporary Spanish, is an important tense to recognize, especially when reading formal or older texts. Its primary function is to refer to a hypothetical action that may or may not happen in the future.

Formation
To conjugate a regular -AR verb in the future subjunctive, you simply take the infinitive stem and add the following endings:

  • yo: -are
  • tú: -ares
  • él/ella/usted: -are
  • nosotros/as: -áremos
  • vosotros/as: -areis
  • ellos/ellas/ustedes: -aren

Example Conjugation: cantar (to sing)

  • yo cantare
  • tú cantares
  • él/ella/usted cantare
  • nosotros/as cantáremos
  • vosotros/as cantareis
  • ellos/ellas/ustedes cantaren

Usage Contexts
The future subjunctive is confined to very specific contexts in modern Spanish:
1. Legal and Administrative Language: It is frequently used in laws, contracts, and other official documents to establish conditions or stipulations. For example: "La parte que violare el acuerdo..." (The party that should violate the agreement...).
2. Literary and Archaic Texts: You will encounter it in classic literature or texts aiming for a formal, elevated, or old-fashioned tone.
3. Proverbs and Fixed Expressions: Some well-known sayings and formal statements preserve the future subjunctive. For example, a phrase like "El que primero llegare, se lo llevará" (He who arrives first will take it) uses llegare from the -AR verb llegar.

Modern Replacement
In virtually all other situations, including everyday speech and modern writing, the present subjunctive is used to express the same future hypothetical idea.

Archaic: Si él hablare conmigo, lo resolveremos. (If he were to speak with me, we will resolve it.)
Modern: Si él habla conmigo, lo resolveremos. (Using indicative for a likely condition) or Cuando él hable conmigo, lo resolveremos. (Using present subjunctive for a future action).

Examples (5)

  1. La parte que violare el contrato deberá pagar una multa.

    The party that violates the contract shall pay a fine.

    Word by Word: The party that may violate the contract must pay a fine.

    This is a typical example from a legal document. Violare is the future subjunctive of violar.

  2. Se castigará a todo aquel que entrare sin permiso.

    Anyone who enters without permission will be punished.

    Word by Word: Will be punished to all that one who may enter without permission.

    Here, entrare (from entrar) refers to a potential future action in a formal, rule-setting context.

  3. Quien encontrare la solución, será recompensado.

    Whoever should find the solution will be rewarded.

    Word by Word: Who may find the solution, will be rewarded.

    This has a literary or formal tone. Encontrare is the future subjunctive of encontrar.

  4. Si yo hablare con el rey, le pediré clemencia.

    If I were to speak with the king, I will ask him for mercy.

    Word by Word: If I may speak with the king, to him I will ask mercy.

    An archaic construction. In modern Spanish, a likely future condition is expressed with the present indicative + future: "Si hablo con el rey, le pediré clemencia." For a more hypothetical or less likely situation, the imperfect subjunctive + conditional is used: "Si hablara con el rey, le pediría clemencia."

  5. El que primero llegare, ese se lo llevará.

    He who arrives first will take it.

    Word by Word: The one that first may arrive, that one it will take.

    This has the structure of a proverb. Llegare is the future subjunctive of llegar.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the future subjunctive in everyday conversation.

    Cuando llegare a casa, te llamo.
    Cuando llegue a casa, te llamo.

    The future subjunctive is not used in modern spoken Spanish. For future actions in subordinate clauses introduced by 'cuando', use the present subjunctive.

  • Confusing it with the imperfect subjunctive in hypothetical 'si' clauses.

    Si yo hablare más español, viajaría a México.
    Si yo hablara más español, viajaría a México.

    For current hypothetical situations ('If I spoke...'), modern Spanish requires the imperfect subjunctive (hablara), not the archaic future subjunctive (hablare).

How It Connects

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-are/-ares/-are/-áremos/-areis/-arenLevel 6Future Subjunctive -AR

Learn This First

The future subjunctive is an archaic form primarily found in legal texts and proverbs. To understand its formation, you must be familiar with the preterite third-person plural stem, which is also the basis for the imperfect subjunctive. Structurally, it is nearly identical to the -ra imperfect subjunctive, simply replacing the 'a' with an 'e' in the endings.

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Patterns that build on this one.