On the Nature of Futurum Praeteriti in Modern Bulgarian

In Bulgarian linguistic literature, futurum praeteriti has traditionally been interpreted not only as a temporal but also as a modal verb form, capable of expressing a con-ditional meaning. The idea of a certain similarity between futurum praeteriti and the conditional mood has persisted to the present day, with various authors exploring the connection between the primarily temporal futurum praeteriti forms and conditional modal semantics. This study outlines the main perspectives on the functional-semantic characteristics of the futurum praeteriti in Bulgarian linguistics, along with the specifics of its formation. Furthermore, the article presents our own hypothesis regarding the place of futurum praeteriti forms within the Bulgarian verb paradigm and examines their relation to the conditional mood.