After, Before, When
Indicating time-relative activities
Present & Future Time Frames
| TWO RELATIVE ACTIVITIES — HABIT | TWO RELATIVE ACTIVITIES —FUTURE PLAN | ||
|---|---|---|---|
To indicate present (habitual or customary) time-related activities, a verb with the present tense in the main (matrix) clause is followed by a preposition with a present-tense clause as its complement. See Grammar Notes regarding changes in grammar terms. |
To indicate future time-related activities, a verb with future tense in the main (matrix) clause is followed by a preposition with a present-tense clause as its complement. In tradtional grammer, after, before, etc. were called conjunctions. See Grammar Notes regarding changes in grammar terms. |
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MAIN CLAUSE – ACTIVITY 2 We watch a movie |
ACTIVITY 1 after he arrives. (later than) habit |
MAIN CLAUSE – ACTIVITY 1 We will watch a movie |
ACTIVITY 2 after he arrives. *(will arrive) (later than) |
We make popcorn |
before he arrives. (earlier than) |
We will make popcorn |
before he arrives. (earlier than) |
We make popcorn |
while he drives here. (ongoing- same time activities) |
We will be making popcorn |
while he is driving here. (ongoing- same time activities) |
We sit down |
when he arrives. (at that moment) |
We will sit down |
when he arrives. (at that moment) |
We sit there |
as long as we want. (for all the time) |
We can/ will sit here |
as long as we want. (for all the time) |
We go out to dinner |
as soon as the movie ends. (immediately following) |
We will go out to dinner |
as soon as the movie ends. (immediately following) |
We go out to dinner |
when the movie ends. (immediately following) |
We will go out to dinner |
when the movie ends. (immediately following) |
We go out to dinner |
once the movie ends. (immediately following) |
We will go out to dinner |
once the movie ends. (immediately following) |
We don't eat |
until everyone receives food. (immediately following) |
We won't start eating |
until everyone receives food. (immediately following) |
We pay our bill |
as the dinner ends. (in the last moments of the first activity.) |
We will pay our bill |
as dinner ends. (in the last moments of the first activity.) |
We have had fun |
by the time the evening ends. (in the time before) |
We will have had a good time |
by the time the ends. (in the time before) (future perfect) |
We have a good time |
whenever we get together. (always) |
|
|
We have a good time |
anytime we get together. (always) |
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*Yellow highlighted words are examples of incorrect usage.
Also see Time-related Clauses
When — two similar meanings
| SAME TIME | IMMEDIATELY AFTER | ||
|---|---|---|---|
To indicate an activity occurs at the same time, the verb in the main (matrix) clause is followed by the preposition, when, with a clause as its complement. |
When is also used in a slightly different sense (understanding) of the word: an activity occurs immediately after another activity. |
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MAIN CLAUSE – ACTIVITY 2 The dog comes (present) |
ACTIVITY 1 when I call. (present) |
MAIN CLAUSE – ACTIVITY 2 I close the door (present) |
ACTIVITY 1 when the dog comes in. (present) |
The dog won't go outside (future) |
when it rains. (present) |
The dog will run back in (future) |
when its feet touch the wet ground. (present) |
The dog didn't go outside (past) |
when it rained. (past)
|
The dog ran back in (past) |
when its feet touched the wet ground. (past) |
Common Mistakes
| ERROR | FIX |
|---|---|
*I'll make some popcorn. After we'll eat it |
I'll make some popcorn. Afterward, we'll eat it. |
*I'll call you before I will get there. |
I'll call you before I get there. Use present tense in the adverb clause. |
*I'll lock the door before I leave. |
I'll lock the door after I leave. After introduces the 2nd event. |
Adverbs in Mixed Time Frames
Past Tense
Past Tense Time Frames
| FOCUS ON THE OCCURRENCE | FOCUS ON THE EARLIER-LATER TIMING | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Relative tiiming of the occurence of two activities is expressed by using a clause followed by a preposition such as after, before, when, while and a clause as its complement. |
Relative timing with emphasis on the contrast, earlier or later, is expressed by marking the verb in the earlier-time clause with past perfect tense. |
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MAIN CLAUSE – ACTIVITY 2 We watched a movie |
ACTIVITY 1 after he arrived. (later than his arrival time) |
MAIN CLAUSE – ACTIVITY 1 We watched a movie |
ACTIVITY 2 after he had arrived. (He was there!) |
We made popcorn |
before he arrived. (ealier than his arrival time) |
We had made popcorn |
before he arrived. (He can't say that he helped us!) |
We made popcorn |
when he arrived. (at that moment) |
We had just finished making popcorn |
when the fire alarm went off. (We were done making popcorn.) |
We made popcorn |
until he arrived. (for all that time before his arrival) |
We had been making popcorn |
until he arrived. (We stopped.) |
We have had fun |
by the time the evening ends. (in the time before)
|
We will have had a good time |
by the time the ends. (in the time before) (future perfect) |
See Grammar Description.
Punctuation
Clause Order
Clause Position
| INITIAL POSITION | FINAL POSITION |
|---|---|
|
|
USE A COMMA As soon as you get here, we'll leave. |
USE NO COMMA We'll leave as soon as you get here. |
Before I drink coffee, my head hurts. |
My head hurts before I drink coffee. |
After I drink coffee, my headache stops. |
My headache stops after I drink coffee. |
When you give me the keys, I'll start driving. |
I'll start driving when you give me the keys. |
A time-related conjunction and its clause can also be moved to the beginning of the sentence. If the clause is in initial sentence position, place a comma after it.
Use
Grammar Notes
Traditional & Current
"Adverbial Clauses" v. "Temporal Location Expressions"
| TRADITIONAL GRAMMAR | CURRENT GRAMMAR |
|---|---|
In traditional grammar while, when, before, after, an since are conjunctions which join an adverb clause to an independent clause. The term adverbial clause is used because the clause adds time-related information about the verb and answers the question When? This added-on structure is called a dependent clause because it can not stand alone as a sentence. |
In current linguistic analysis – while, when, before, after, and since — are prepositions which take a a clause as a complement: with a subject and a verb (while we were walking home) or with a gerund-participle (while walking home). Before and after additionally take a noun complement: (before me). The structure is called an adjunct because it is not required for completing the meaning of the sentence. (The sentence is complete without the prepositional phrase.) |
Azar & Hagen call these adverbial clauses or "time clauses" with no mention of a term for the connector. It is not clear whether while, when, before, after, and since are adverbs or conjunctions. "A time clause begins with such words as when, before after, as soon as, until, and while and includes a subjects and a verb. The time clause can come either at the the beginning of the sentence or in the second part of the sentence…" (UUEG 4-3, Adverb clauses 17-2; Reduction 18-1) |
Huddleston & Pullum (2009) use the term "temporal location expressions". In their grammar description, they re-assign a large number of items previously analyzed as adverbs after, as, as soon as, before, once, since while, and when to the class of prepositions. The preposition is the head of the prepositional phrase (PP) which can be complemented by a noun phrase or a clause (with a subject and a verb, or a clause with a gerund-participle). (CaGEL 7.2.4, 8.63) |
Quirk & Greenbaum (1989) place while, when, before, after, and since in the class of conjunction. They function as subordinators of adjunct clauses that express time-relationship. (CoGEL 8.53) |
Swan (2009) refers to while, when, before, after, and since as conjunctions. (Swan 29.1.1, 30.1, 510) |
Resources / Bibliography of works cited
Practice 1
Waiting for an Acceptance Letter
Adverbial conjunctions and verb tense (mostly future preditions)
- Select the response from the menu that best completes the sentence.
- Compare your response to the answer by clicking the "check" button to the right.
Practice 2
Four Years Overseas
Adverbial conjunctions and verb tense (past, present and future time frames)
- Choose the correct form of the verb.
- Then check your answer. * indicates an incorrect answer.
Practice 3
A Changed Opinion
Adverbial conjunctions and verb tense (past time frames)
- Write your corrections for the sentence in the text area
- Then compare your response to the answer with the "check" button.