The Future mode
This mode is the future tense. When the future mode appears in a sentence, it indicates that the event the verb describes will occur sometime after the sentence is spoken. Here are some examples:
| Da’adánídi | ’ats’ą́ą́ | deesghał. |
| restaurant-at | ribs | 3-1-eat.F |
| I’m going to eat ribs at the restaurant. | ||
| Dziłghą́ą́’góó | deeshááł | nissin. |
| mountain-top-toward | 1-go.F | 1-want.CI |
| I want to go to the mountaintop. | ||
Note about neuter verbs in the future: Because neuter verbs do not have a future mode, a different way is needed to express one in the future. A future particle (dooleeł or doo) is used. Without the particle, a sentence with a stative verb in it will be understood as being true at the time the sentence is spoken:
Adding dooleeł results in a claim about the future:
| Asdzą́ą́ | Báhoozhóní | yinishyée | dooleeł. |
| woman | happy | 1-called.NI | future |
| My name will be Happy Woman. | |||
Signal expressions
Adverbial phrases that are compatible with the future mode include:
Future oriented adverbials
- yiską́ągo ’tomorrow’
- díí tł’éé ’tonight’
| Yiskáago | nighandi | naadeeshááł. |
| tomorrow | 2-home-at | 2-to-1-go.F |
| I will visit you tomorrow at your house. | ||
Expressions below clash with the future time indicated in the verb mode. [Note that we use * to indicate that the sentence is ungrammatical]:
| *Ch’óóshdą́ą́dą́ą́’ | Bilagáanaa | bizaad | doo | dideests’į́įł | da. |
| formerly | English | language | NEG | 1-understand.F | NEG |
| * Long ago I will not understand English. | |||||
| *Abínídą́ą́’ | t’áadoo | ’adeeshį́į́ł | da. |
| morning-past | NEG | 1-eat.F | NEG |
| * Earlier this morning I will not eat anything. | |||
| *Łáháda | ach’íí’ | deeshį́į́ł. |
| rarely | rolled.intestines | 1-eat.F |
| * Once in a great while I will eat rolled intestines. | ||




