Propriedades Temporais do Futuro Simples em Português Europeu

Abstract

The main goal of this paper is to discuss some of the most relevant temporal properties that characterise the Futuro Simples (Simple Future) in European Portuguese. We will begin by demonstrating that, although this tense most frequently conveys modal information, it occurs in contexts in which its role is undoubtedly to locate a situation in a future time interval. In this respect, we will compare some alternative analyses in order to provide an adequate description of the temporal properties displayed by the Futuro Simples (Simple Future). We will assume that this tense conveys a systematic relation of posteriority regarding the speech time. Our assumption not only correctly accounts for the locating properties of the Futuro Simples (Simple Future) concerning the ordering of situations on the time axis, but also accommodates the aspectual restrictions shown by the so-called conjectural readings of the future tense. Finally, we will compare the temporal behaviour of the Futuro Simples (Simple Future) with that of the structure ir (‘go’) in the present tense + Infinitive, hypothesising that the latter construction imposes additional temporal restrictions – in particular, the presence of a boundary after t0 beyond which the situations could not extend – that prevent its overlapping with the speech time, even if stative predications are involved.