This mini episode will teach you about “if” and “when” clauses in the future tense.
Episode 252 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode about “if” and “when” clauses in the future tense. Send your questions about English and your suggestions for future episodes to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“This is Im, from South Korea. And you’re listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 252 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts, on the Stitcher app, and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let’s get on with this mini episode.
The episode
In this episode, I want to talk about “if” and “when” clauses in the future tense. “If” and “when” clauses in the future tense: What does that mean? What am I talking about? This is what I’m talking about:
I am talking about clauses that begin with “if” or “when.” These are clauses like “If it is your birthday… we should have a party.”
Or “When I see my friends, I feel happy.”
In those sentences, we can see an “if” clause and a “when” clause”—If it is your birthday, When I see my friends.
I want to talk about “if” and “when” clauses in the future tense. What do you need to know about creating “if” and “when” clauses in the future tense?
We form the future tense in two ways. We use the word will. And, in some situations, we can also just use the simple present tense. That might sound a little bit confusing, but it’s true. And that means we can say things like this:
“The airplane will leave later tonight.” The airplane will leave later tonight. And we can also say, “The airplane leaves later tonight.” The airplane leaves later tonight. That’s just the simple present tense, but we can use the simple present to form the future tense.
Here is what I want you to know about “if” clauses and “when” clauses in the future tense:
In most cases, we do not use “if” and “when” clauses with the word will. In most cases, it will just sound awkward and strange. There might be some situations where it is okay. But I think you should avoid the word will in “if” and “when” clauses.
Let me give you a couple of examples to show you what I am talking about:
“If it rains tomorrow, we will not be able to play tennis.” If it rains tomorrow, we will not be able to play tennis.
That sentence sounds fine.
Yes, it does use the word will—we will not be able to play tennis—but it does not use the word will in that “if” clause. That sentence sounds fine, but this sentence does not sound fine:
“If it will rain tomorrow, we will not be able to play tennis.” That “if” clause sounds strange with the word will—if it will rain tomorrow.
My advice to you is: Do not use the word will in an “if” clause. Instead of saying, “If it will rain,” you should say, “If it rains.”
And here is an example that uses a “when” clause:
“When I go to work tomorrow, I will be tired.” When I go to work tomorrow, I will be tired. That sentence sounds fine, but this sentence sounds strange:
“When I will go to work tomorrow, I will be tired.”
Again, my advice is not to use the word will in a “when” clause (or an “if” clause). Instead, just use the simple present tense: If it rains tomorrow, when I go to work tomorrow.
That is my advice about using “if” and “when” clauses in the future tense.
Outro
This is the end of episode 252 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have questions about English, or if you have comments or suggestions about the podcast, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can play at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Im recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with a new episode, and until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. Goodbye! I’ll see you soon.