Chapter 14 Verbs and time
Future so
so places the clause's event or state after the present moment.
mia lunei so nila. — I will see the moon.
The narrow channel of s opens into rounded o. The form is short and easy to hear before another Slot 1 particle; hope, intention, and uncertainty are absent from its sounds.
Future is a location, not a modal
mia so theo. is a future assertion: "I will read." It may report a plan, prediction, promise, schedule, or expectation, but so itself settles only time. Possibility and ability take po:
mia so po theo. — I may be able to read.
Beginning takes pa:
mia so pa theo. — I will begin to read.
A future statement can be confident or doubtful, welcome or feared. Source, modality, and feeling have their own words when those distinctions matter.
Examples
| Phi | Gloss | English |
|---|---|---|
mia so theo. | 1SG FUT read | I will read. |
thia so shua. | 2SG FUT come | You will come. |
lo mia phialu so nila. | PL 1SG water FUT see | We will see the water. |
Planning can change what happens next, and some future events lie beyond anyone's control. Grammar does not decide which case a sentence describes. It puts so before the verb and leaves causation to the account.