Time Clauses

Hello boys and girls!

Today, we are going to have a look at 'time clauses'. Time clauses in English are sentences introduced by a conjunction such as: before, after, as soon as, until when, whenever, while or some other time expression. Even though these sentences are about future activities, we do not use a future tense in these sentences. Have a look at the following two examples:

• My sister will come to Madrid and she will take me to the theatre. 

•  My sister will take me to the theatre when she comes to Madrid. 

 In the first sentence, we have two future actions related to each other. In the second sentence the clause after 'when' is a time clause and even though the activity will take place in the future,  the tense used is present simple.

There are many other examples of time clauses. Have a look at the following examples where the first sentence is made of two sentences with will and the second sentence is made of a sentence with will and a future time clause.

• The holidays will finish and the teacher will publish the results vs The teacher will publish the results as soon as the the holidays finish
• Don´t start the exam. First I will explain what you need to do vs Don't start the exam until I explain what to do. 
•  I'll have a quick lunch and I will leave for work vs I'll have a quick lunch before I leave for work. 
• Your father will arrive and then we will have dinner vs We will have dinner when your father arrives 

Well, I really hope this post helps you understand better time clauses and when / how to use them... I will write another one before you know it!