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### The Future Continuous Tense

To express an ongoing action in the future (like "they will be anticipating" or "she will be heading"), Arabic uses the future tense of the verb "to be" plus an active participle.

The formula is:
1. The future tense of "to be" (سيكون or سوف يكون), conjugated to match the subject.
2. An active participle (اسم فاعل) describing the ongoing action.

Because the active participle is the predicate of كان (to be), it must be in the **accusative** case (منصوب):
- Masculine singular words add the ـا suffix (e.g., مترقبا).
- Feminine singular words ending in ـة do not change visually.

Notice how the verb matches the female subject (ستكون):

{{item:1187635}}

With a masculine singular subject, the active participle takes the accusative marker ـا:

{{item:1187641}}

You can also use سوف يكون instead of سيكون for the exact same meaning:

{{item:1187644}}

### Dual and Plural Subjects

For dual or plural subjects, both the verb "to be" and the active participle must match the subject in number. The accusative suffix for both the dual and the regular masculine plural is ـين.

Notice the dual verb (سيكونان) and the accusative dual active participle (مترقبين):

{{item:1187638}}

Similarly, with a masculine plural subject, the active participle takes the accusative plural ending (متوجهين):

{{item:1187647}}

### Seeing the endings

This course writes Arabic the way books and newspapers print it, without the short-vowel marks, so the ending this lesson is about is usually something you hear in the audio but cannot see in the drills. Here are some of them with every vowel written out:

| as written | fully vocalized | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| هل سيكون المؤيد مترقبا للنتيجة في الانتخابات التشريعية أم الرئاسية؟ | هَلْ سَيَكُونُ المُؤَيِّدُ مُتَرَقِّبًا لِلنَّتِيجَةِ فِي الِانْتِخَابَاتِ التَّشْرِيعِيَّةِ أَمِ الرِّئَاسِيَّةِ؟ | Will the supporter be anticipating the result in the legislative or the presidential elections? |
| غدا صباحا، ستكون الناخبة متوجهة إلى مركز الاقتراع. | غَدًا صَبَاحًا، سَتَكُونُ النَّاخِبَةُ مُتَوَجِّهَةً إِلَى مَرْكَزِ الِاقْتِرَاعِ. | Tomorrow morning, the voter will be heading to the polling station. |
| ثمة معارضة واحدة، لكنها ستكون مقترعة غدا. | ثَمَّةَ مُعَارِضَةٌ وَاحِدَةٌ، لَكِنَّهَا سَتَكُونُ مُقْتَرِعَةً غَدًا. | There is one opponent, but she will be voting tomorrow. |

After سيكون the active participle is accusative. On a masculine word you can see it as an alif: **مُتَرَقِّبًا**. On a word ending in ة it is only heard: **مُتَوَجِّهَةً**, **مُقْتَرِعَةً**. Compare **مُعَارِضَةٌ وَاحِدَةٌ** at the start of the last drill: with no كان in front, the ending is the nominative.

Future continuous (سيكون + اسم فاعل)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

interrogative

noun

numeral

particle

prefix

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

The definite article and locatives (الـ)

Basic noun gender (ة)

Sun and moon letters

Singular subject pronouns (أنا، أنت، هو، هي)

Indefinite nouns and nominal sentences (ـٌ)

Demonstrative pronouns for 'this' (هذا / هذه)

Separate prepositions (في، من، إلى، على)

Attributive adjectives

Predicative adjectives

Yes/No questions (هل، أ)

Basic questions (من، ما، أين)

Singular possessive pronouns (ـي، ـك، ـه، ـها)

Plural subject pronouns (نحن، أنتم، هم)

Plural possessive pronouns (ـنا، ـكم، ـهم)

Noun possession

Attached prepositions (بـ، لـ، كـ)

Pronouns with prepositions

Having and possessing (عند، لـ، مع)

Regular plural nouns (ـون، ـين، ـات)

Broken plurals

Dual nouns (ـان / ـين)

Plural and distant demonstratives (هؤلاء، ذلك، تلك)

Non-human plural agreement

Present tense singular verbs

Verbal sentences (VSO)

Present tense plural verbs

Topicalized sentences (SVO)

The indefinite accusative case (ـاً)

Verb object pronouns (-ني، -ك، -ه)

Present tense negation (لا)

Question words with verbs (متى، كيف...)

Adverbs of time and place

The future tense (سـ / سوف)

Intentions and desires (أن)

Negating states and possession (ليس)

Past tense singular suffixes

Past tense plural suffixes

Negating past events (ما)

Singular commands

Numbers 1 to 10

Number agreement for 1 and 2 (واحد، اثنان)

Asking how many (كم)

Numbers 3 to 10 (ثلاثة إلى عشرة)

Ordinal numbers 1 to 10 (الأول، الثاني)

Basic conjunctions (فـ، أو، لكن)

Ordering at a café (واحد، اثنان)

Food and drink with conjunctions (و، ف، أو، لكن)

There is and there are (هناك / ليس هناك)

Direct address (يا)

Giving reasons (لأنّ)

Relative pronouns (الذي / التي)

Quantifiers (كل / بعض)

The past tense of 'to be' (كان)

Past possession

Numbers 11 to 19 and tens to 80

Telling time (الساعة)

This book vs this is a book (هذا الكتاب، هذا كتاب)

Greetings (مرحبا، السلام عليكم)

How are you? and goodbye (كيف حالك، مع السلامة)

Nationalities (مصري، مصرية)

Roots and patterns (كتب، كتاب، مكتب)

Politeness (من فضلك، آسف)

Complex possession chains

Colors and traits (أفعل / فعلاء)

Plural colors and traits (فُعْل)

Comparative adjectives (أفعل من)

Superlative adjectives (أفعل)

Adverbs of manner (ـاً)

The nominative case (ـُ)

The genitive case (ـِ)

The accusative case (ـَ)

Dual noun cases (ـان / ـين)

Masculine plurals and 'the best of' (أفضل النجارين)

Emphasizing sentences (إنّ)

Connecting clauses (أنّ)

Reporting speech (قال إنّ)

Expressing contrast (لكنّ)

Comparison and probability (كأنّ, لعلّ)

Distant plural pointing (أولئك)

Plural relative pronouns (الذين, اللواتي)

Past habits (كان + present)

Ongoing actions (ما زال)

Masculine plurals online (مبرمجون، مؤثرون)

Perfective past (قد)

Probability (قد)

The subjunctive mood (أن)

Question	Answer
voter	ناخبnâkhib
heading	متوجهmutawajjih
polling	اقتراعiqtirâ'
Tomorrow morning, the voter will be heading to the polling station.	غدا صباحا، ستكون الناخبة متوجهة إلى مركز الاقتراع.ghadan sabâhan, satakûnu an-nâkhibatu mutawajjihatan ilâ markazi al-iqtirâ'i
anticipating	مترقبmutaraqqib
presidential	رئاسيri'âsî
Both candidates will be anticipating the result of the presidential elections.	المرشحان كلاهما سيكونان مترقبين لنتيجة الانتخابات الرئاسية.al-murashshahâni kilâhumâ sayakunâni mutaraqqibayni linatijati al-intikhâbâti ar-ri'âsiyyati
supporter (backer, endorser)	مؤيدmu'ayyid
legislative	تشريعيtashrii3iyy
Will the supporter be anticipating the result in the legislative or the presidential elections?	هل سيكون المؤيد مترقبا للنتيجة في الانتخابات التشريعية أم الرئاسية؟hal sayakûnu al-mu'ayyidu mutaraqqiban lin-natîjati fî al-intikhâbâti at-tashrî'iyyati am ar-ri'âsiyyati?
turnout	إقبالiqbâl
voter (casting a ballot)	مقترعmuqtari'
There is a large turnout, and every voter will be participating in the voting.	ثمة إقبال كبير، وسوف يكون كل مقترع مشاركا في التصويت.thammata iqbâlun kabîrun, wa sawfa yakûnu kullu muqtari'in mushârikan fi t-taswît
opponent (political, dissenter)	معارضmuârid
Certainly, every supporting or opposing voter will be wishing success for his party.	بالتأكيد، سيكون كل ناخب مؤيد أو معارض متمنيا النجاح لحزبه.bitta'kiidi, sayakuunu kullu nâkhibin mu'ayyidin aw mu'âriḍin mutamanniyan annajâḥa liḥizbihi
The inspectors will be heading to every polling station.	سوف يكون المفتشون متوجهين إلى كل مركز اقتراع.sawfa yakûnu-l-mufattishûna mutawajjihîna ilâ kulli markazi-qtirâ'
The legislative committees will be anticipating the turnout percentage.	ستكون اللجان التشريعية مترقبة لنسبة الإقبال.satakûnu allijânu attashrî'iyyatu mutaraqqibatan linisbati al-iqbâl
Both voters are supporters of the presidential candidate.	المقترعتان كلتاهما مؤيدتان للمرشحة الرئاسية.al-muqtari'atâni kiltâhumâ mu'ayyidatâni lil-murashshahati ar-ri'âsiyyah
There is one opponent, but she will be voting tomorrow.	ثمة معارضة واحدة، لكنها ستكون مقترعة غدا.thammata mu'âridatun wâhidatun, lâkinnahâ satakûnu muqtari'atan ghadan
Are you a supporter or an opponent of this legislative decision?	هل أنت مؤيدة أم معارضة لهذا القرار التشريعي؟hal anti mu'ayyidatun am mu'âridatun lihâdhâ al-qarâri at-tashrî'iyyi?

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