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I was chatting with my friend about my plan. I am going to relocate to a new city and then I am going to apply for a job at some company. And I said I hope they would still be hiring by then. My question is I am not sure about the correct tense to use. Which one of the following is correct?

  1. "I hope after I come there, they are still hiring"
  2. "I hope after I came there, they would be still hiring"
  3. "I hope after I came there, they are still hiring"

Another related question is, is it correct to say "come there"? I guess if my friend is actually in the city I am going to move to then I can say "come here" but if he is not, then what are some of the ways to say it?

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  • come isn't correct, but some of the other answers don't come off as a native way to say it either, personally I'd say something like "I hope they are still hiring once I get there"
    – Zach
    Commented Apr 28, 2022 at 18:13

3 Answers 3

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I'll answer your second question first. No, "come" is not the correct verb, because you are going to a distant place. Some possible options are "go" and "arrive".

With that change, sentence #1 would be correct:

I hope after I arrive there, they are still hiring.

Because the subordinate clause "after I arrive there" is adverbial, it sounds a bit more natural after the verb that it modifies:

I hope they are still hiring after I arrive there.

Note that it is acceptable in this case to use the present tense to describe a future action. This use of the present tense is described on many websites, in many grammar books, etc. (for example: https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/english-grammar-reference/present-tense), but feel free to ask a follow-up question if you're not sure about why it's correct here.

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    Wouldn't we normally say 'I hope they are still hiring when I arrive there'? Or even natural, 'when I get there'? We often use 'get' when we talk about wishing to arrive somewhere in relation to some other time, e.g. get there by sunset, by the time the shops open, before the pubs shut, etc.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Apr 28, 2022 at 7:29
  • @MichaelHarvey Yes, both of those options work well, too.
    – MarcInManhattan
    Commented Apr 28, 2022 at 14:32
  • Hey thanks for the answer! You said "come" is not the correct verb, "because you are going to a distant place". I thought in which case "come" would still be a valid verb... could you point out when I should use "come" vs. other verbs such as "go" and "arrive"?
    – Joji
    Commented Apr 29, 2022 at 16:55
  • You’re welcome! If you search this site (just type “come go” in the search box) you’ll find several discussions of this issue. I hope that helps.
    – MarcInManhattan
    Commented Apr 29, 2022 at 20:29
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All of them actually sound off and wrong, it should be

I hope they are still hiring after I reach [place]

You can only use "come here" in instances like this

I used to come here when I was young

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You don't use the past tense ("came there") in your hypothetical because it hasn't happened. So you wouldn't say 2 or 3. 1 is better but odd. If it were me I would say I hope they're still hiring once I move or I hope they're hiring when I get there. I think it is usually but not always wrong to use "come" in the way you're using it. I definitely would not use the word reach. I think the issue is the phrase "come there" -- that is unnatural to me. But if you said "I hope they're still hiring when I come to town" or "I hope that when I come stay with you guys they're still hiring", I think that would be totally reasonable.

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