La perífrasi verbal conativa [ser + a + infinitiu]: descripció i gènesi

In Catalan the verbal periphrasis [ser `to be' + a `to' + infinitive] expresses the conative sense (also called futured past). Catalan grammars do not report this construction, probably because it is unusual. In fact, this verbal periphrasis is defective: in common language, the auxiliary is only used in certain tenses (e. g. imperfect past of subjunctive), but in some regions it is used in other tenses. In this paper we report on this construction and we try to explain its origin.