8.5: The future and the conditional

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Part of “A Beginner (Non-Linguist) Guide to Learning Pali”

A verb that says what is still to come carries ssa before the ending that gives its person and number: bhavissati, gacchissanti. Kaccāyana names these endings bhavissanti (the rule spells it bhavissantī), the future, ⏭: one rule says when they are used, in time to come {421}, and one lists the twelve {429}. The same ssa with a past-looking tail and an a- before the root is the kālātipatti (“the lapse of time”), 🔀, an action that never came about: “if he had got the vehicle, he would have gone” {422}, {430}.

So ask what follows the ssa: -ti, -nti, -si, -tha, -mi, -ma make the future, -ā and -aṁsu with the a- in front the conditional; person and number as in 8.1, the rules in Appendix I. Kaccāyana gives the name sabbadhātuka to the present, the command, the wish and the hiyyattanī {431}; the other four sets, these two among them, take an i between the root and the ending {516}, so what you see is nearly always -issa-: gam-i-ssati, kar-i-ssati. That i is the surest sign; each rule’s attanopada six, rare in the texts, are in chapter 1.

The future: bhavissanti ⏭

what you see	person	number	example	rule
-ssati	third 🤟	⨀	bhavissati, gacchissati, karissati	{429}
-ssanti	third 🤟	⨂	gacchissanti, karissanti, bhavissanti	{429}
-ssasi, -ssatha	second 🤘	⨀, ⨂	none in the rules or the texts	{429}
-ssāmi	first 👆	⨀	āharissāmi, karissāmi	{429}
-ssāma	first 👆	⨂	karissāma, gamissāma	{429}

Shapes before the ending

what you see	what it is	example	rule
-issa-	the i before the ending; a root ending in a vowel does without it	gamissati, labhissati, pacissati	{516}
bhavissa-	bhū for asa, the root of atthi	bhavissati, bhavissanti	{507}
hessa-, hehi-, hohi-	the future of hoti, its ssa often dropped	hessati, hohiti	{480}
kāha-	karoti’s future: kāha for kara and the ssa	kāhati, kāhasi (“you will do”), kāhāmi	{481}

The conditional: kālātipatti 🔀

what you see	person	number	example	rule
a- … -ssā, -ssa	third 🤟	⨀	agacchissā (“he would have gone”), alabhissā; the texts’ abhavissa (7: 2.2)	{430}, {519}
a- … -ssaṁsu	third 🤟	⨂	agacchissaṁsu, alabhissaṁsu; the texts’ abhavissaṁsu (7: 4.5)	{430}, {519}
-sse, -ssatha, -ssaṁ, -ssāmhā	second 🤘, first 👆	⨀, ⨂	none in the rules or the texts	{430}

The a- is the past’s, from 8.4, and its rule names the kālātipatti too {519}. In the texts the final vowel is short, abhavissa, and the sentence carries ce (“if”) or no ce (“if not”), or, as in chapter 7, no “if” at all; its other half is a conditional or a sattamī (paññāyetha, “would be evident”, saṁvatteyya, “would lead”).

Look-alikes

-ssatha belongs to both sets: the a- before the root and a ce mark the conditional. A noun’s -assa (④ or ⑥, jātassa) has no i before it and sits on a lemma; passati (“sees”) is a present: no i.

Examples

Āraddhaṁ kho pana me vīriyaṁ bhavissati asallīnaṁ

🚻⨀①(āraddha) 🔼(kho pana) *️⃣👆⚧⨀③(ahaṁ) 🚻⨀①(vīriya) ⏭🤟⨀(bhavati) 🚻⨀①(asallīna)
applied / and now / with me / determination / will become / active
bhavissati, “will become”: -ssati, the future, third person singular {429}, with the i before ssa {516}; Bonus: 45, 9.7.

te gacchissanti, karissanti

*️⃣🤟🚹⨂①(ta) 🟢⨂🤟⏭(gacchati) 🟢⨂🤟⏭(karoti)
they / will go / will do
-ssanti, the future, third person plural {429}: gacchanti with -issa- before its -nti {516}; Kaccāyana’s own {421}.

No cetaṁ, bhikkhave, abhavissa ajātaṁ abhūtaṁ akataṁ asaṅkhataṁ

🔼(no) 🔼(cetaṁ) 🚹⨂⓪(bhikkhu) 🔀🤟⨀(abhavissa) 🚻⨀①(ajāta) 🚻⨀①(abhūta) 🚻⨀①(akata) 🚻⨀①(asaṅkhata)
surely? / if this / Bhikkhave / could have been / not born / not become / not made / not formed
abhavissa, “could have been”: the conditional, third person singular, a- {519}, -ssa for -ssā {430}, after no ce (“if not”); Bonus: 50, 3.2.

Saṅkhārā ca hidaṁ, bhikkhave, attā abhavissaṁsu

🚹⨂①(saṅkhāra) ⏏️(ca) ⏏️(hi) *️⃣🤟🚻⨀①(ima) 🚹⨂⓪(bhikkhu) 🚹⨀①(atta) 🟢⨂🤟🔀(bhavati)
mental constructions / and / indeed / this / bhikkhave / self / would be
abhavissaṁsu, “would be”: -ssaṁsu, the conditional, third person plural {430}, with the a- {519} and no “if” spoken; 7: 4.5.

Exercises

The first is from chapter 7; the rest are Kaccāyana’s own, since the texts hold no future form but bhavissati and no conditional but abhavissa and its plural. Name the verb’s set, person and number, and what stands before its ending; then look it up.

Hint

You may find the Digital Pali Dictionary useful for looking up words, as well as doing the sandhi and compound word deconstruction.

1. Rūpañca hidaṁ, bhikkhave, attā abhavissa
2. kilanto addhānaṁ gamissati
3. so ce taṁ yānaṁ alabhissā, agacchissā
4. pabbajjā vā hohiti, maraṇaṁ vā me
5. kāhāmi kusalaṁ bahuṁ

Answers

Note: please do the exercises first before checking the answers.

1. Rūpañca hidaṁ, bhikkhave, attā abhavissa

🚻⨀①(rūpa) ⏏️(ca) ⏏️(hi) *️⃣🤟🚻⨀①(ima) 🚹⨂⓪(bhikkhu) 🚹⨀①(atta) 🟢⨀🤟🔀(bhavati)
form / and / indeed / this / bhikkhave / self / would be
abhavissa, “would be”: the conditional, third person singular, a- {519}, -ssa for -ssā {430}, with no “if” spoken; 7: 2.2.

2. kilanto addhānaṁ gamissati

🚹⨀①🔽(ta)(kilanta) 🚻⨀②(addhāna) 🟢⨀🤟⏭(gacchati)
tired / the road / he will travel
gamissati, “he will travel”: -ssati, the future, third person singular {429}, on the root gam with the i before ssa {516}.

3. so ce taṁ yānaṁ alabhissā, agacchissā

*️⃣🤟🚹⨀①(ta) ⏏️(ce) *️⃣🤟🚻⨀②(ta) 🚻⨀②(yāna) 🟢⨀🤟🔀(alabhissa) 🟢⨀🤟🔀(agacchissa)
he / if / that / vehicle / had got / he would have gone
-ssā, the conditional, third person singular {430}, with the a- {519}; ce (“if”) marks the failed condition {422}.

4. pabbajjā vā hohiti, maraṇaṁ vā me

🚺⨀①(pabbajjā) ⏏️(vā) 🟢⨀🤟⏭(hoti) 🚻⨀①(maraṇa) ⏏️(vā) *️⃣👆⚧⨀⑥(ahaṁ)
going forth / either / will be / death / or / mine
hohiti, “will be”: the future of hoti, third person singular, its ssa dropped {480}.

5. kāhāmi kusalaṁ bahuṁ

🟢⨀👆⏭(karoti) 🚻⨀②(kusala) 🚻⨀②(bahu)
I will do / good / much
kāhāmi, “I will do”: the future, first person singular; kāha for kara and its ssa {481}.