FutOptPfr: Grammatical expression of future time is optional; when used, it is expressed through the use of an auxiliary verb in addition to some form of the main verb, usually nonfinite.

(1a) qoʌtaɣiʌ mīša wɔ̄č-nam mən-ʌ.

tomorrow Misha town-appr go-prs.3sg

‘Tomorrow, Misha will go to the town.’

(1b) mīša wɔ̄č-nam mən-taɣə jə-ʌ.

Misha town-appr go-inf start-prs.3sg

‘Misha is going to the town.’

(1c) mīša wɔ̄č-nam mən-taɣə pit-ʌ.

Misha town-appr go-inf fall-prs.3sg

‘Misha is going to the town.’

In Surgut Khanty, the future tense is expressed with the present tense of the verb and (if necessary) with temporal modifiers placing the event in the future (1a). The planned or started future actions can be coded by the infinitive + jə- ‘become, start’ and the pīt- ‘fall, start’ constructions. Due to the influence of Russian grammars, these forms are considered to be future tense forms in more recent grammars of Surgut Khanty (1b), (1c).