Hey there! This is TOP episode 144. As Soon As I Know I Will Let You Know. Future Time Clauses

My name’s Ola and I am an online English teacher, I teach through one to one classes and I want you to know I believe you can eliminate your language blockade. It is 100% guaranteed. And I know you believe it too. We both know you can get there. 

I’ve overcome a massive blockade myself. The secret word here is consistency. There are other secret words too. That is why I record this podcast’s episodes, and each comes with a little worksheet, a one-pager to help you digest and test what you’ve practised here. You can speak English with more confidence, slay that fear and enjoy new freedoms. Each episode helps you practice speaking, the practical part is always there, at the end of each episode.  Visit my website for full transcripts and worksheets to each episode. Visit my shop at teacherola.com and enjoy your journey to fluency! Happy learning!

Hey there! It’s a grammar explaining episode. As always, a tiny bit of grammar, one hopefully simple tool to make you more confident speaking English. Take it, listen today and implement it today. Say the sentences out loud, make your own ones, and use them fearlessly knowing that you are correct. At first, you’ll make plenty of mistakes. But that’s a must! That’s how we all learn. That’s kids learn and that’s how adults learn. By making mistakes. The more the better. 

But before we start let me quickly remind you there’s a Worksheet dedicated to these sentences we’re gonna practice in a while so go grab it at teacherola.com/143 or find it in your inbox. That’s your homework. 

Secondly, visit my shop and buy a Worksheet set, have them all in one place. They’re editable. Check out my e-book with episodes transcripts. 

If you’re interested in learning English with tv series, now that I am working on my speaking English course, a programme focused on one skill only, speaking. If you’re wondering whether such a course is right for you grab a checklist, the link is in the description. Thank’s for your patience and let’s get back to the episode.

Listen, I want this lesson to be crystal clear, so I’ll get down to the rule in question and add examples.

Future time clauses. A future time clause tells when a future event will happen, provided that something else happens first. Future time clauses are words. Let me list all of them:

as soon as, before when, after, until, till, while.

Now, Polish speakers and speakers of many other languages use future tenses to refer to the future. Because this is logical. Put logic aside though. Embrace the fact that in English after future time clauses we should use present tense. Usually present simple, however, present continuous or present perfect are also good choices in specific situations. 

Today we won’t talk about them because you know I want to keep grammar episodes simple and hopefully give you the clearest possible takeaway so that you can implement the structure right away. 

Let me illustrate this rule I’ve just mentioned with an example. The example from the title of today’s episode. 

As soon as I know I will let you know. 

The common mistake here might be:

As soon as I will know I will let you know. 

Maybe you can hear how uncomfortable so to speak it is to even say it out loud. Better don’t do it. The reason this sentence sounds odd is that we cannot use ‘will’ twice in a sentence. There are two events occurring in the future but still, we can use ‘will’ just once. 

As soon as I know I will let you know. 

I will let you know as soon as I know. As soon as I know. 

After the future time clause ‘as soon as’ I put present simple tense. 

As soon as I know. 

The main part contains the future simple tense ‘I will let you know’ and by the way, if you’re interested in the pronunciation of these two words ‘let you let you’ please tune in to episode 57: ‘Meet You’, ‘Did You’. Assimilation. tecaherola.com/57. There you’ll learn what happens when the sound /t/ and /d/ is followed by the sound /j/. Anyway, coming back to today’s topic. 

The main part contains the future simple tense ‘I will let you know’. After when, or as soon as and a few more never use ‘will’. Use the present tense. 

We’ll go out when she is back. 

We’ll go out when she is back. 

When you are at home, I will make dinner. 

When you are at home, I will make dinner. 

At this point, I feel I should also direct you to the episode on conditional sentences. The first conditional has something in common with what we’re talking about today. Go to episode 36: The First Conditional. 

And now, there’s nothing left to do but to practice. Please listen carefully, and retain and repeat the sentences. Trust me, if you do it regularly you’ll see the results. Shall we begin?

I will turn off the light when I leave the office. 

She will pack her suitcase after she does the online check-in.

I will read for a while before I go to sleep.

As soon as it stops raining I’ll go shopping.

I won’t go on holiday until I finish this project.

I will wait here until your parents arrive.

I’ll pop in when I finish work.

Will you give me a lift after I arrive?

We’ll read the instructions before we play the game.

I’ll start searching for a new job as soon as I feel ready.

Well done! Now, go to your inbox and grab the worksheet in order to test yourself. Complete the worksheet with translations. If you aren’t a member of TOPeople download the worksheet from teacherola.com/144.

If you find this episode useful, tell your friends about my podcast, and share it with one person. It’ll help me grow and spread the message. Thanks in advance! This is how you can support my work. 

Thank for tuning in and I’ll see you next Wednesday! We’re going to talk about habits. Happy learning. Take care! Stay fearless and say it out loud! Bye!