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Could you send it when the Christmas rush will be over.

Could you send it when the Christmas rush is over.

Are they both grammatical and what is the difference in their meaning? I think the first one with future is good because "could you send it" is not really a true future like "I will order it when it will be in stock."

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  • No, the princple is still the same: "when it is in stock" not "when it will be in stock". Think of it this way: you want them to send the item at the time that it is true that the item is in stock, not at the time when the item's being in stock is still in the future.
    – stangdon
    Dec 17, 2022 at 19:34
  • but I was told that "I will order it if it will be in stock" is grammatically correct
    – Yves Lefol
    Dec 17, 2022 at 21:39
  • @stangdon For context, OP is referring to my answers to their questions here and here.
    – gotube
    Dec 17, 2022 at 23:19

1 Answer 1

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"... when the Christmas rush is over."

The phrase is just giving an indication of time and is in the present of the time indicated.

To contrast this with "... if it will be in stock"

This conditional is a condition about a future condition, it is in the future of the time indicated by the main clause. It means (with possible explicit timeframes in brackets) "I will order it (tomorrow) if it will be in stock (next year)" The time of "being in stock" is in the future of the the time of ordering.

By contrast "Could you send it when the Christmas rush is over" the time of "the Christmas rush being over" is in the present of "sending".

Using future tense in an if or when clause is rare and specialised. Learners should use the present tense in these clauses unless they have a very specific and certain knowledge that the future tense is required. If you are not sure, it is probably wrong to use the future in a "when" clause.

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