Negating the Future with لن
To negate an action in the future—saying "will not" or strongly denying that something will happen—Arabic uses the particle لن. It is placed directly before a present tense verb.
لن and the Subjunctive Mood
Just like the particles أن and لـ, لن changes the present tense verb that follows it into the subjunctive mood (المضارع المنصوب).
For subjects like "I", "he", "she", "you (masc.)", and "we", the subjunctive mood changes the verb's final short vowel to a fatha.
Dual and Plural Subjunctive
When the verb following لن is dual (two people) or plural (such as "they" or "you all"), the subjunctive mood drops the final ن from the standard present tense conjugation. For plural verbs, a silent ا is added at the end after dropping the ن.
This rule applies to all verbs in these forms, even those that end in weak letters. For example, the plural "you all survive" (تنجون) drops the ن to become تنجوا.
Seeing the endings
After لن the singular verb ends in a fatha. Unvocalized text cannot show it, so the drills look like the ordinary present. With the vowels written:
| present | after لن |
|---|
| يَدْخُلُ | لَنْ يَدْخُلَ |
| نَنَامُ | لَنْ نَنَامَ |
| نَجْمَعُ | لَنْ نَجْمَعَ |
The plural change, on the other hand, is visible: تُشْعِلُونَ becomes لَنْ تُشْعِلُوا.
