We can use time clauses to tell the order of future events. These time clauses include:
- when
- before
- as soon as
- after
- until
When you are using time clauses to talk about the order of future events, make sure to use the simple present after the time clause.
| First Event | Second Event |
| I'll take the dog for a walk | before I go to work. |
| She'll be watching our bags | until the train arrives. |
| After we open our presents, | we'll have some cake! |
| As soon as they win the game, | we'll do a big cheer for them. |
Notice that the part with the clause can come first or second. Remember, there must be a comma (,) if your time clause comes first!
The part of the sentence with the time clause should always be in the simple present, but the part in the future tense can be in any of the future forms.
| Using 'will' | After she sings her song, I'll do my dance. |
| Using 'be going to' | After she sings her song, I'm going to do my dance. |
| Using present continuous | After she sings her song, I'm doing my dance. |
All of these examples are acceptable, although the meaning might be slightly different for some sentences.