Page 197 - Advanced English Grammar in Use

A d v e r b i a l c l a u s e s o r t i m e ( i j : v e m l e n s e ;
b e f o r e a n d u n t i l ; h a r d l y , e t c .

Here are some general rules to help you decide what verb tense to use in an adverbial clause
beginning with after, as, as soon as, before, until, when, or while.

to talk about the present or past, use the same tense you would use in a main clause:
• I normally look after the children while she is practising.
• When she heard the results she was overjoyed.
to talk about the future, use a present tense:
• Wait here until you're ready to go.
• I'll look after the children while you are making dinner.

• to talk about an action that is completed before another action described in the main
clause, use either simple or perfect tenses:
O • As soon as you see / have seen her, come and tell me.
• • She wrote to me after she spoke / had spoken to Jim.
However, if we are talking about an action in the adverbial clause that takes place over a
period of time, we generally prefer the present perfect:
• After I have written this book, I'm having a holiday, (rather than After I write...)
• You can go when you've typed these letters, (rather than ...when you type...)
If the two actions take place at the same time, use a simple tense, not a perfect tense:
• Turn the light out as you leave, (not ...as you have left.)
• When I saw Kim, I asked her over for dinner, (not When I had seen...)

f
IB Beore and until
We use before if the action or event in the main clause has little or no duration and does not
take place until the time represented in the adverbial clause:
• She walked out before I had a chance to explain.
We can often use either until or before when a situation described in the main clause lasts until a
time indicated in the adverbial clause. In particular:
• to say how far away a future event is: • It was three days until/before the letter arrived.
• if the main clause is negative: • I didn't think I'd like skiing until/before I tried it.
Compare the use of until and before when the main clause is positive:
• He used to live with us until/before he moved down to London.
Here, until means 'up to the time'. Before means 'at some time before (but not necessarily right
up to the time specified)'. If the adverbial clause also describes the result of an action in the main
clause, we use until:
• He cleaned his shoes until they shone, ('shining' is the result of 'cleaning')

Hardly, no sooner, scarcely
When we say that one event happened immediately after another we can use sentences with
hardly, no sooner, and scarcely:
• The concert had hardly begun before all the lights went out.
• I had no sooner lit the barbecue than it started to rain.
We often use a past perfect in the clause with hardly, no sooner or scarcely and a simple past in
the second clause. After hardly and scarcely the second clause begins with when or before; after
no sooner it begins with than. In a literary style, we often use the word order hardly / no sooner /
scarcely + verb + subject at the beginning of the first clause (see Unit 120):
• Scarcely had Mrs James stepped into the classroom when the boys began fighting.
Adverbial time clauses (2) => Mllim Inversion => HIIIHWil