Future Active Participle
The future active participle indicates that the noun being described is about to or going to do something. As such, we can translate the future active participle “about to (verb)” or “going to (verb)”.
Counterintuitively, we form the future active participle off the perfect passive participle. We take off the -us, and then add the endings -ūrus, -ūra, -ūrum to form a new 2-1-2 adjective. Note that the difference between the future active participle and the perfect passive participle is very slight: the syllable -ūr- is the only difference.
- vir consilium familiae suae datūrus domum venit. - The man, about to give advice to his family, is coming home.
- sororem lībrum meum captūram moneō. - I am warning my sister, about to take my book.
Such translations of the future active participle, however, sound stilted and should generally be avoided in favor of more idiomatic constructions; see the section on translating participles within this module. The future active participle in particular can also be used to express purpose; see the appropriate section within the expressions of purpose module.
Future Active Infinitive
This new form also helps us form the 5th out of our 6 infinitives. We learned last semester about four:
- present active infinitive (laudāre, “to praise”)
- present passive infinitive (laudārī, “to be praised”)
- perfect active infinitive (laudāvisse, “to have praised”)
- perfect passive infinitive (laudātus… esse, “to have been praised”)
The 5th infinitive to add to this list is the future active infinitive, translated as “to be about to (verb).” We form it by pairing the future active participle with the infinitive esse:
- laudātūrus… esse, “to be about to praise”
Note that as with the perfect passive infinitive, the participle has to change its ending to match whatever noun it describes. This is particularly important in constructions like indirect statements:
- videō cīvēs regem laudātūrōs esse. I see that the citizens are going to praise the king. BUT:
- videō matrem fīlium laudātūram esse. I see that the mother is going to praise her son.
Future Active Participle and Infinitive of Deponents
As with the present active participle of deponent verbs, the future active participle of a deponent verb will break the deponent rule by being both active in form AND active in meaning. We will form it the same way: take the PPP from the third principal part, chop off the -us, and add -ūrus, -ūra, -ūrum. Then, it will be translated similarly. For example:
- hortātūrus, -a, -um, “about to exhort”
- veritūrus, -a, -um, “about to fear”
Accordingly, the third and final form that breaks the deponent rule will be the future active infinitive, formed as it is off the future active participle:
- hortātūrus… esse, “to be about to exhort”
- veritūrus… esse, “to be about to fear”
Future Passive Participle
The future passive participle is actually a form that you are already familiar with: the gerundive. Remember that we learned that the gerundive is an adjective that is passive. Now we’re filling out that picture: specifically, the gerundive is the future passive participle that, when used literally, is translated as “(about/going) to be [verb]ed”. We referenced this last semester when we described using the gerundive as a verbal adjective.
This particular participle is not very often used as a straightforward adjective with the meaning described above. The future passive participle is most often used as a gerundive in, e.g., a GRG construction or a passive periphrastic, as we learned last semester.