When I finish university, I'll take a trip to the USA and Canada.
Clauses
The example sentence above has two parts. Each part has a subject and verb:
When I finish university,
I'll take a trip to the USA and Canada.
A subject and a verb makes a clause. Every sentence in English must have at least one clause. Sometimes, sentences have only one clause:
- I love you.
- We're hungry.
- He's from Brazil.
But sometimes sentences have more than one clause:
- I woke up late because I didn't hear my alarm clock.
- After the movie ends, we'll go out for dinner.
- What will you do if you don't have enough money?
Time Clauses
Often, we can use a second clause to describe when something will happen. In English, we usually do this with the following words (conjunctions):
- when
- before
- after
- until
Before I got to work, I bought a coffee.
When he takes a shower, he always sings.
I'll call you after I get home tonight.
Can you stay here until I come back?
When we make time clauses about the future, we need to use the Present Simple after when, before, after, and until. In this usage, the Present Simple has a future meaning.
English speakers usually use will in the main clause (other clause) of the sentence:
It'll be awesome when your brother comes to visit.
Before I leave, I'll clean up.
After we eat lunch, we'll go out for a walk.
I'll be at work until I finish.
We can start our sentences with a time clause or use them after the main clause. If you start your sentence with a time clause, use a comma in the middle:
| Time Clause, + Main Clause (comma) | Main Clause + Time Clause (no comma) |
|---|---|
| When I get home, I'll make dinner. | I'll make dinner when I get home. |
| Before class starts, we'll finish our homework. | We'll finish our homework before class starts. |
| Until you arrive, we won't start dinner. | We won't start dinner until you arrive. |
Exercise
Open the exercise to begin the activity. Follow the instructions in the document.