The imperfective future tense in Russian

Abstract

This paper investigates the use of the imperfective periphrastic future (IPF) in Russian in those cases where it is used to signal single-occurring future events or actions. It is argued that the IPF is a tense despite its morphological distinction of being the sole analytic Russian tense. Syntactically, the IPF differs from other periphrastic verbal constructions in that it cannot occur with double negation. It unequivocally occurs with future deictic reference, firm evidence that it is indeed a tense. Semantically, the distribution of the IPF can best be described in terms of four interrelated scalar parameters: GIVENNESS, IMMINENCE, INTENTION and VOLITION.