19.2. Other Ways of Expressing The Future ✅
Besides the future tense, there are two other ways of expressing the future in Neolatin.
- The Present Tense
Use the present tense to indicate that an action is in the immediate future.
| Torno plus tarde. / Tornarai plus tarde. | I will come back later. |
- The Periphrastic Future: “Vàdere” + Infinitive
This construction is mostly interchangeable with the future tense. However, the difference is that it is used for actions that are already decided or certain in the near future, whereas the future tense is more general.
| Vado vedere un film plus tarde. | I am going to watch a movie later. |
| Vamos mangîare ad lo nòvo restaurante. | We are going to eat at the new restaurant. |
| Te vado contare un secreto. | I am going to tell you a secret. |
Although this construction is common in Romance languages, there are small differences depending on the language.
Compare the phrase “I am going to eat” in different languages:
| Portuguese | Spanish | Catalan | Occitan | French | Italian | Romanian |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vou comer | Voy a comer | ∅ | Vau manjar | Je vais manger | *Vado a mangiare | *Voi mânca |
Spanish has this construction, but it is mandatory to use the preposition “a” (ex: “Voy a comer”).
Catalan does not use such a construction for the future, but rather it uses it as its version of the simple past (ex: “Vaig menjar” means “I ate” instead of “I am going to eat”). However, most Catalan speakers speak Spanish, which does use a similar construction for the future.
Italian is notable for having this construction – and similar to Spanish, it even uses a preposition – but it is never used as a synonym for the future tense in the strict sense. In fact, it is considered a mistake in Italian to use it in this sense. To be more specific, the construction exists, but its use implies physical movement. For example, if one were to say “Vado a leggere”, it implies that someone is physically going to move to some other place to read. Otherwise, Italian only uses the future tense.
Romanian has different ways of expressing the future. One of those is the periphrastic construction, consisting of the modal auxiliary verb (“a vrea”) with an infinitive. It is worth noting that although the construction seems similar to other languages, the conjugation “voi” (which coindentally looks like “voy” in Spanish) does not come from Latin “vādere”, but rather as a conjugation of “a vrea”, which comes from “volēre”. Furthermore, this construction is the formal and simple future in Romanian, which is to say, this language’s version of “I will” rather than “I am going to”. For example, “Eu voi mânca” means “I will eat”.
In addition, there is another construction that is more common in Romanian, which is “o” (from “avea”) used with a verb in the subjunctive mood. For example, “Eu o să mănânc” means “I am going to eat”.
In regards to Neolatin, the consensus is that the periphrastic construction of “vàdere” and the infinitive is allowed, without an obligatory preposition like in Spanish. Therefore, a phrase like “Vado mangîare” instead of “Vado ad mangîare”.
When there is physical movement, given that these languages use the same form, one solution is to use the same construction, without a preposition. However, given that Italian only uses “andare a” when there is physical movement, another solution is to reserve the use of a preposition only when there is physical movement. Therefore, with all this in mind, two solutions when there is physical movement involved are both “Vado lègere” and “Vado ad lègere”.