Through an analysis of samples from selected works by Macedonian, Serbian, Croatian, Bosna-Hercegovinian and Montenegrian authors, the article makes an attempt to determine the fundamental and subordinate meanings of the future forms in Macedonian (idno vreme, minatoidno vreme, idno-prekažano vreme, and the constructions of the type ke ima/ncma dojdeno; ima da dojde) in relation to fundamental and subordinate meanings of future forms in the Serbocroatian/ Croaloserbian language (Future tense I and Future tense II). The analysis shows that the basic meaning of future tenses in these languages is regularly the expression of the future while subordinate meanings arc numerous and manifold (the present, the past, relating to all time, requests, commands, suspicion, supposition, the conditionality of actions, etc.) The analysis leads to the conclusion that the essential component connecting these two Slavic languages on the level of future forms is precisely the fundamental and, in particular, the subordinate meaning of these forms.
