How does standard Estonian express future time in standard verb syntax?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. Using the present tense with temporal adverbs or aspectual verb phrases
- Step 1: Uralic languages, including Estonian, lack a grammaticalized synthetic future tense. Step 2. Future reference is expressed using the present tense accompanied by time adverbs (e.g. homme 'tomorrow') or aspectual pairs/phrasal verbs (e.g. saama + ma-infinitive). Answer: Using the present tense with temporal adverbs or aspectual verb phrases. Why not the others: Estonian has no synthetic future inflection; no single auxiliary is universally mandatory; the conditional expresses hypothetical situations.
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