Welcome to
ESL Printables,
the website where English Language teachers exchange resources:
worksheets, lesson plans, activities, etc.
Our collection is growing every day with the help of many teachers. If
you want to download you have to send your own contributions.
Sorry to bother you...yet, I have something to ask you, if you can spare the time. BY THE TIME is used with more than one tense, right? What Rule should I apply? Let �s take these cases: By the time you get home, the movie (start).
The dress hasn �t been washed yet. By the time it is ready, my plane (leave).
Can I say : By the time you get home, the movie will have started.
The dress hasn �t been washed yet. By the time it is ready, my plane will have left.
As a native speaker I would say that both of those are correct but I will leave the reasons why to another member who is more of a grammar expert than I am...
Hi! According to Michael Swan, "by the time (that)" is used with a verb to mean "not later than the moment that something happens".
So there is no specific rule for the verb tense. We can use any verb tense, all depending on the context. In the examples you gave above, you have Present Simple + Future perfect. Must it be always like that? No. For example, we can say, "I �ll be in bed by the time he gets home." or "by the time they realised what was happening, the thieves were already inside the bank."
Your sentences are correct nemomen. The tense used after by the time... is called future perfect and it means that the action will be completed by a certain moment in the future. By the time you arrive home the movie will have started. (The movie started before you arrived) HOPE IT HELPS!
