As soon as, when, before (time clauses): B1 ESL grammar lesson (PDF)

What's in the lesson

1Warm-up
2In this lesson
3Reading: Mom's planReading comprehension
4What does it mean?Grammar exercise
5Find the time wordsGrammar exercise
6Time clauses about the futureGrammar rule
7Choose the formGrammar exercise
8The babysitter's noteGrammar exercise
9Find the mistakeGrammar exercise
10Questions for your teacherGrammar exercise
11Say it naturallySpeaking practice
12My next big daySpeaking practice
13About youGrammar exercise
14Wrap-up

Homework

1Homework: your first dayGrammar exercise
2Homework: which sentence is correct?Grammar exercise
3Homework: build the sentencesGrammar exercise
4Homework: the planDiscussion

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

A few questions about you before we start.

Have you ever helped a friend move? How did it go?
Do you like to plan things step by step, or do you prefer to wait and see?
What do you usually do as soon as you wake up?

Grammar rule

Time clauses about the future

The present after the time word

When we talk about the future, the verb after when, as soon as, before, after and until is in the present, not will. The other part of the sentence has will, going to, or an order.

Time word	Meaning	Example
when	at that time	When the mail comes, I'll look for my package.
as soon as	right then, with no waiting	I'll pay you back as soon as I get paid.
before	earlier than	Before the guests come, I'll clean the kitchen.
after	later than	We're going to go for a walk after the game ends.
until	up to that time (and then it changes)	Stay inside until the storm is over.

Two orders

The time part can come first or second. When it comes first, use a comma: As soon as it gets dark, we'll light the candles. / We'll light the candles as soon as it gets dark.

Watch out

No will after the time word: when he will call → when he calls
The present perfect is fine too when one thing must be finished first: I'll call you after I've finished my report. (= after I finish it)
In a question, will is fine: When will you be home? (This is a question, not a time clause.)
when or if? when = you are sure it will happen; if = maybe. When I finish work, I'll call you. (I will finish.) If I finish early, I'll call you. (Maybe I will.)

Teach it live with video and a whiteboard, or print it: the PDF has every slide, the homework and the answers.

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