B1 — intermediateThe future tense and the conditional

Future word order & spelling

Lesson opening

This is the first part of the lesson. The rest, the exercises and the reviews are in the app.

Word order in the future: ću in second place

You have already built the forms of the future: the lesson “Future I” gave you the clitic ću, ćeš, će… and three ways of writing the same thought: the fused radiću, the separate ja ću raditi and the construction ja ću da radim. Now that “The second-place rule” is behind you, it is time to sort out the order and the spelling: exactly where ću sits, how it lines up with other clitics, and when it is written together with the verb. A clitic is a short word with no stress of its own, said as one with the word next to it (sam, se, mi, ga, li), a little like English ’ll in I’ll. ću is not some special little word of the future. It is a clitic like the others, and it follows the same second-place rule as sam in the perfect.

That is where all the flexibility comes from, and all the traps. Sutra ću doći and Doći ću sutra are both correct and mean the same (“I’ll come tomorrow”), because ću simply looks for something to lean on to its left. But “Ću doći sutra” is impossible: a clitic does not open a sentence. English, which puts “will” wherever the subject puts it, gives you no instinct for this.

ću needs support: three ways to give it second place

Because ću is unstressed, it always needs something to lean on. There are three kinds of support, all equally good:

In the first case the infinitive raditi stands in front and fuses with the clitic into one word, radiću: in writing the -ti drops, and in speech the t melts into the ć (“Future I”). In the second and third, the support comes from the stressed words ja and sutra, and ću comes straight after them, as the second word. You cannot start with ću itself: “Ću raditi” is as impossible as “Sam radio” in the perfect. Which support you choose is a matter of emphasis: Sutra ću raditi is about tomorrow, Ja ću raditi stresses that I am the one who will work.

Verbs in -ći do not fuse: they have no -ti ending to drop. The infinitive stays whole and ću is written as a separate word, but the order is the same, verb first and clitic after it: Doći ću sutra, Ići ćemo zajedno “We’ll go together”, Reći ću ti “I’ll tell you”, Moći ćeš “You’ll be able to”, Pomoći ću vam “I’ll help you” (not “doćiću”). With another word in front, nothing changes: Sutra ću doći, Ja ću doći.

The third construction, with da, keeps the same queue: ću in second place, then da and the verb in the present tense: Ja ću da radim, Sutra ću da radim, Šta ćeš da radiš? In everyday speech in Serbia it is very common, while official and written texts usually prefer the infinitive. And the full Hoću da radim means something else: “I want to work”.

All three work with verbs of both aspects (the “doing” verbs and the “getting it done” verbs): radiću “I’ll work, I’ll be working”, uradiću “I’ll get it done”. So “I’ll come” and “I’ll do it” take ću too: Sutra ću doći, Uradiću to sutra. A bare perfective present without ću, such as dođem, has its own place: after kad, ako, da, as in Kad dođem, javiću ti “When I come, I’ll let you know”.

Deeper typology

Sutra ću or ću sutra: a free first place, a fixed clitic

The Serbian future combines two things that look like opposites: freedom and rigidity. What stands in first place is free. Put the time first if you like (Sutra ću doći), or the doer (Ja ću doći), or the verb itself (Doći ću). All three are correct, and the choice is a matter of meaning and rhythm. What follows is fixed: ću must be the second element, no earlier and no later. The first place is open; the second is locked.

To an English speaker this can feel back to front. English locks the subject in front of “will” (“I will come”, “tomorrow I will come”) and lets very little else move; a sentence that starts with the verb, “Come I will”, sounds like a line from Yoda. Serbian does the reverse: it frees the first place almost entirely and keeps only the unstressed clitic on a short leash in second. Once that sinks in, the temptation to say “Ću doći sutra” or “Sutra doći ću” goes away: ću neither opens the sentence nor waits until later; it always comes as the second beat, right after the first stressed word. The first place is your tool for expression; the second is a firm rule.

Cheat sheet

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Word order in the future: ću in second place

The future clitic ću, ćeš, će, ćemo, ćete, će is an auxiliary verb, a short word with no stress of its own: it stands in second place after the first stressed word and never opens a sentence. In a clitic chain it is in group 2, before the pronouns, just like sam in the perfect.

Three supports, all equally good

Examples

Support	Example	Translation
fused infinitive	Radiću sutra.	I’ll be working tomorrow.
pronoun	Ja ću raditi sutra.	I’ll be working tomorrow.
adverb	Sutra ću raditi.	Tomorrow I’ll be working.

One word: an infinitive in -ti in front drops the -ti: radiću, gledaćeš, pisaćemo, daću, biće.
Two words: verbs in -ći (doći ću, ići ćemo, reći ću, moći ćeš; not “doćiću”), ću before the infinitive (Sutra ću raditi, not “Sutra radiću”), the da construction (Ja ću da radim, common in speech), neću raditi.
Serbia writes radiću; “radit ću” is the Croatian standard’s spelling.
No support, no sentence: “Ću raditi” is as impossible as “Sam radio”.
Both aspects take ću: Uradiću to sutra, Sutra ću doći; a bare perfective goes after kad, ako, da: Kad dođem, javiću ti.

The chain: support → ću → dative → accusative → (se) → infinitive

Examples

Example	Translation
Sutra ću ti ga dati.	I’ll give it to you tomorrow.
Danas ću mu poslati poruku.	I’ll send him a message today.
Mi ćemo vam sve objasniti.	We’ll explain everything to you.
Sutra ću ti se javiti.	I’ll get in touch with you tomorrow.

One thought, two builds, never mixed: Ja ću ti ga dati (support → ću → ti → ga → infinitive) or Daću ti ga (fused verb first, separate pronouns after it). Note “to you” before “it”: ti ga.

Questions: three ways in

Examples

Way in	Example	Translation
full form + li	Hoćeš li doći?	Will you come?
da li + clitic	Da li ćeš doći?	Will you come?
question word as support	Šta ćeš raditi uveče?	What are you doing this evening?
the same	Kad će stići voz?	When will the train arrive?

A fused form holds li itself: Bićeš li kod kuće? Short answers: Hoću. / Neću.

The negative: stressed neću

ne + ću → neću, nećeš, neće, nećemo, nećete, neće: a stressed word that opens the sentence and never fuses. If another word comes first, the pronouns follow it and neću comes after them.

Example	Translation
Neću doći.	I won’t come.
Neću ti ga dati.	I won’t give it to you.
Sutra ti ga neću dati.	I won’t give it to you tomorrow.