Future II (футур други) forms a future event inside a larger future scenario. Its typical home is a subordinate clause introduced by ако “if,” кад “when,” чим “as soon as,” or док “while/as long as”: Ако будем радио, нећу се јавити “If I am working, I won’t answer.” It is formed with будем plus an agreeing l-participle.
Calling Future II “the Serbian future perfect” is misleading. With perfective verbs it can present a bounded or prior event, but with imperfective verbs it can present an ongoing, repeated, or simultaneous future situation. Conjunction, aspect, and the relation between the two clauses jointly determine the meaning.
Formation and agreement
The auxiliary is the perfective present paradigm of бити. The lexical verb appears as an l-participle and agrees with the subordinate-clause subject in gender and number.
| Person | Masculine / mixed | Feminine |
|---|---|---|
| ја | будем радио | будем радила |
| ти | будеш радио | будеш радила |
| он / она | буде радио | буде радила |
| ми | будемо радили | будемо радиле |
| ви | будете радили | будете радиле |
| они / оне | буду радили | буду радиле |
For neuter subjects, use буде радило in the singular and буду радила in the plural. The auxiliary marks person and number, while the participle supplies gender and number agreement.
Ако будем радила до касно, послаћу ти поруку.
If I end up working late, I’ll send you a message. (female speaker)
Кад гости буду стигли, изнећемо вечеру.
When the guests have arrived, we’ll serve dinner.
Ако деца буду спавала, разговараћемо у кухињи.
If the children are asleep / sleeping, we’ll talk in the kitchen.
Its natural home: future-oriented subordinate clauses
Future II normally depends on a main clause that supplies the larger future frame. It is common in conditions, temporal clauses, repeated future contingencies, and situations whose realization is not yet known.
Ако сутра буде падала киша, преместићемо концерт у салу.
If it is raining tomorrow, we’ll move the concert indoors.
Док будемо чекали резултате, завршићемо осталу документацију.
While we are waiting for the results, we’ll finish the remaining paperwork.
Чим будете потписали уговор, добићете приступ систему.
As soon as you have signed the contract, you’ll get access to the system.
The main clause commonly has Future I, an imperative, or another form compatible with future consequence. What Future II does not normally do is stand alone as a neutral answer to “What will you do tomorrow?” That job belongs to Future I.
Aspect creates the time relation
With a perfective participle, Future II often presents the subordinate event as bounded and completed before the main-clause event. With an imperfective participle, it can present a process, repeated activity, or state simultaneous with the main future situation.
Кад будем прочитао целу понуду, јавићу ти шта мислим.
When I have read the entire offer, I’ll tell you what I think. (male speaker; bounded prior event)
Док будем читао понуду, бележићу сва спорна места.
While I am reading the offer, I’ll note every disputed point. (male speaker; ongoing simultaneous event)
The main clause stays in Future I; прочитао versus читао changes how the subordinate event is viewed. Future II itself does not guarantee anteriority. The perfective participle plus the temporal conjunction produces that reading in the first sentence.
Repeated or conditional situations especially favor an imperfective verb:
Кад год будем путовала у Ниш, свратићу код тетке.
Whenever I travel to Niš, I’ll stop by my aunt’s. (female speaker)
Here кад год and imperfective путовала create a recurring future contingency, not a future perfect.
Future II versus perfective present
Contemporary Serbian very often uses a perfective present in future temporal and conditional clauses. Compare:
Кад завршим анализу, послаћу ти табелу.
When I finish the analysis, I’ll send you the spreadsheet.
Кад будем завршио анализу, послаћу ти табелу.
When I have finished the analysis, I’ll send you the spreadsheet. (male speaker; more explicitly future/bounded)
Both are standard. The perfective present завршим is compact and very common. Future II будем завршио explicitly locates the completion within the anticipated future scenario and can sound more deliberate or marked. It is not automatically “more correct.”
After чим, the perfective present is likewise frequent:
Чим добијемо потврду, резервисаћемо карте.
As soon as we receive confirmation, we’ll book the tickets.
Чим будемо добили потврду, резервисаћемо карте.
As soon as we have received confirmation, we’ll book the tickets. (explicit Future II framing)
The alternative does not erase aspect: both добијемо and будемо добили contain the perfective verb добити.
Future II versus imperfective present
An imperfective present can refer to an established future arrangement or a generic/repeated condition. Future II more overtly presents the situation as contingent or located within a particular future interval.
Док радимо на пројекту, састајемо се сваког понедељка.
While we’re working on the project, we meet every Monday. (current/general arrangement)
Док будемо радили на новом пројекту, састајаћемо се два пута месечно.
While we are working on the new project, we’ll meet twice a month. (bounded future interval)
This contrast is not just tense replacement. The second sentence explicitly builds a future frame and uses imperfective aspect in both clauses to describe ongoing and repeated activity.
Negation and clitic placement
Negate the auxiliary with separate не: не будем, не будеш, не буде, не будемо, не будете, не буду. If pronoun clitics occur, preserve normal second-position cluster order.
Ако не будем имао све податке, нећу доносити одлуку.
If I don’t have all the information, I won’t make a decision. (male speaker)
Кад ми буде послала адресу, проследићу ти је.
When she has sent me the address, I’ll forward it to you.
In кад ми буде послала, dative clitic ми occupies its normal early position after кад, before the stressed auxiliary буде. Future II буде is not itself a clitic. The l-participle послала agrees with the female subject, so Future II does not suspend ordinary Serbian clitic syntax.
It is not an independent future perfect
English readily says By Friday, I will have finished as an independent main clause. Neutral Serbian normally uses Future I with perfective aspect: До петка ћу завршити. Future II becomes natural when embedded:
До петка ћу завршити прву верзију.
By Friday, I’ll have finished the first version.
Кад будем завршио прву верзију, послаћу је уредници.
When I have finished the first version, I’ll send it to the editor. (male speaker)
The English label “future perfect” therefore predicts the wrong Serbian construction in the first sentence. Serbian perfective aspect plus до петка gives the completion reading inside Future I.
Practice Tasks
Task 1: Make agreement visible
Two women say: “If we are working tomorrow, we will call you during the break.”
Ако сутра будемо радиле, позваћемо те током паузе.
If we are working tomorrow, we’ll call you during the break. (two female speakers)
Task 2: Contrast ongoing and completed
Keep јавићу ти as the main clause. Use imperfective Future II for “while I am traveling” and perfective Future II for “when I have arrived.”
Док будем путовао, јавићу ти се поруком; кад будем стигао, јавићу ти се телефоном.
While I’m traveling, I’ll message you; when I’ve arrived, I’ll call you. (male speaker)
Common Mistakes
Using Future II as the ordinary main future
❌ Следећег месеца будем купио нови рачунар.
Incorrect as a neutral main clause—use Future I for an independent future event.
✅ Следећег месеца ћу купити нови рачунар.
Next month I’ll buy a new computer.
Omitting gender agreement
❌ Ако Милица буде стигао раније, нека нас сачека.
Incorrect—the l-participle must agree with feminine singular Милица.
✅ Ако Милица буде стигла раније, нека нас сачека.
If Milica arrives earlier, she should wait for us.
Equating every English future perfect with Future II
❌ До сутра будем завршио превод.
Incorrect as an independent clause—English ‘will have finished’ is normally Future I with a perfective verb here.
✅ До сутра ћу завршити превод.
By tomorrow I’ll have finished the translation.
Ignoring aspect in the subordinate clause
❌ Док будем завршио извештај, слушаћу радио.
Incorrect for ‘while I am writing’—perfective завршио presents completion, not an ongoing simultaneous process.
✅ Док будем писао извештај, слушаћу радио.
While I’m writing the report, I’ll listen to the radio. (male speaker)
Key Takeaways
- Future II is будем/будеш/буде/будемо/будете/буду + agreeing l-participle.
- Its main home is a future-oriented subordinate clause after ако, кад, чим, док, and related conjunctions.
- Perfective aspect often creates a bounded or anterior reading; imperfective aspect creates ongoing, simultaneous, or repeated readings.
- Perfective and imperfective present forms are genuine contemporary alternatives in many subordinate clauses.
- Use Future I, usually with a perfective verb, for an independent English-style “will have done” sentence.
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Start learning Serbian →Related Topics
- Future I (futur prvi)A1 — The main future tense: ћу, ћеш, ће, ћемо, ћете + infinitive.
- The l-Participle (radni glagolski pridjev)A1 — The past active participle that builds the perfect and conditional.
- Aspect in the FutureB1 — How aspect colours Future I and the subordinate future.
- Subordinators of Time and CauseB1 — kad, dok, čim, jer, zato što, budući da.
- ako vs da vs kad (if/when)B1 — Choosing the right conditional/temporal subordinator.