yóò

A Future Event

Level 1

Use subject + yóò + predicate. A time expression can specify when the situation will occur.

How It Works

The marker follows the subject and precedes the predicate. Objects remain after their verb. Yóò keeps its form across subjects; the lexical verb receives no future suffix. Preserve the high tone on the first vowel and low tone on the second.

  • Bísí yóò ra àga lọ́la. — Bísí will buy a chair tomorrow.
  • A yóò fọ àwo. — We will wash the plates.
  • Àwọn ọmọ yóò kọ orin. — The children will sing a song.
  • Délé yóò dé lọ́la. — Délé will arrive tomorrow.

The first and fourth examples name a future day. The other examples leave the time to context. Compare ń for an event underway and ti for a situation already reached: these words provide different frames before the predicate.

Yoruba has several future forms, including máa and shorter pronoun-linked forms. Their distribution belongs to their own constructions; they are not produced by deleting arbitrary letters from yóò.

Negative future frames include kò nì í. Learn their established placement separately. These affirmative examples practice actions and arrival; they do not propose a rule for every kind of predicate.

Examples (4)

  1. Bísí yóò ra àga lọ́la.

    Bísí will buy a chair tomorrow.

    Lọ́la specifies the future day.

  2. A yóò fọ àwo.

    We will wash the plates.

    The marker follows the plural subject.

  3. Àwọn ọmọ yóò kọ orin.

    The children will sing a song.

    The lexical verb takes no future ending.

  4. Délé yóò dé lọ́la.

    Délé will arrive tomorrow.

    Yóò precedes the arrival predicate.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

yóòLevel 1A Future Event