All Things Relevant to Learning English: The Simple Present Tense to express the Future

I know, it sounds strange. Present tense to talk about future?

This is a very simple rule in grammar and it's used to talk about something that has been scheduled, like a trip or an appointment with the doctor that will happen soon, in the near future. Another thing to remember is that almost always a time is indicated, or voiced.

Here are some examples:

I take the bus tomorrow at 8:00.
I go to the doctor at 4 o'clock this afternoon.
She runs in the marathon in three days.
I start spring cleaning this week.

Another way we use the simple present to express, or talk about, the future is in a dependent adverb clause.

A dependent clause is a part of a sentence that cannot stand alone, it must be used with an independent clause or it won't make any sense. Also, in a complex sentence, a sentence that has both a dependent and independent clause, there will be an clause marker like in example below:

I'll go to the store when I finish cleaning the house.

Here we can divide the sentence into two parts.

I'll go to the store,
when I finish cleaning the house.

Part 1. is a dependent clause, which means it is a complete sentence with a complete meaning by itself.

Part 2. is an independent clause, which means alone, the meaning isn't complete, it doesn't make sense. In this case it is a dependent adverb clause and the clause marker is the adverb 'when'.

Now, to use simple present to express future in a complex sentence, like in the example above.

The teacher will give the exam when the students sit down.
I'll go to the new dentist after you go.
Before we take the bus, we will have to get a schedule.

That's it! These are the only ways to use the present simple tense to express a future action. Thank you to my lovely friend from Germany for asking me about this.

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Have a great day!

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