2.2. Future tense: ____ caʔ
| hiyáʔ caʔn. | ‘I will go.’ |
| hiyáʔ caʔ st. | ‘We will go.’ |
| hiyáʔ caʔ cxʷ. | ‘You will go.’ |
| hiyáʔ caʔ cxʷ hay. | ‘You folks will go.’ |
| hiyáʔ caʔ. | ‘He/she/it/they will go.’ |
| ƛ̕kʷə́t caʔn. | ‘I will take it.’ |
| ƛ̕kʷə́t caʔ st. | ‘We will take it.’ |
| ƛ̕kʷə́t caʔ cxʷ. | ‘You will take it.’ |
| ƛ̕kʷə́t caʔ cxʷ hay. | ‘You will take it.’ |
| ƛ̕kʷə́ts caʔ. | ‘She/he/it/they will take it.’ |
► 1 The rule for forming the future tense in Klallam is almost as easy as the past tense: put caʔ after the verb. But when the subject is cn ‘I,’ you must drop the c. So instead of caʔ cn you get caʔn.
► 2 In ordinary, rapid speech caʔn often sounds like can, with the vowel stretched out a little.
► 3 The future tense is formed the same way in both transitive and intransitive verbs.
► 4 Note that the caʔ precedes the subject except when the subject is the ‑s ending.
► 5 Note that the future tense in English can be expressed in several ways: ‘I will go,’ ‘I’ll go,’ ‘I am going to go,’ or ‘I’m going to go.’ There is only one future tense in Klallam.
► 6 Remember that, just as for the past tense, the future caʔ is not required. It is used only when the speaker wants to make it absolutely clear that the event will happen in the future.
► 7 It is important to mention that for some speakers it is not possible to use caʔ with cxʷ ‘you.’ That is, for some speakers hiyáʔ caʔ cxʷ is not good Klallam usage. The reason given is that ‘I can’t tell you what you are going to do in the future.’
 | ʔəsx̣ʷaʔníŋ cxʷ. | ‘How are you?’ |
 | ʔuʔə́y̕ cn. | ‘I’m fine.’ |
| ʔaʔstúʔŋət caʔ cxʷ ʔuč. | ‘What will you do?’ |
| kʷánəŋət caʔn. | ‘I’ll run.’ |
| ʔaʔstúʔŋət kʷaʔčaʔ. | ‘Why?’ |
| ƛ̕kʷə́t yaʔ cn. | ‘I took it.’ |