17 Comments
I think the correct tense sequence in English is: "When I arrive I will write to you" (conditional of the first type: simple present and simple future)
For non-English natives, 'I will write you' is not acceptable to say. Rather, we say 'I will write to you'. Without the preposition it doesn't make sense.
I think it makes sense as an American. It is surely used in spoken language by natives without the preposition.
1877
Yes, or otherwise it means "When I arrive (to the classroom) I will write (the word) you (on the classroom board)" :-)
This may be regional. It is definitely acceptable in spoken English, but it's unlikely to be written outside of dialogue (writing meant to mimic speech).
- 1877
Yes, Italian and English differ in this kind of conditional phrase: Italian need the futur tense in both verb-phrases, but English use present tense for the condition (When I arrive) - even though it is in the future, logically speaking. We have the same in Swedish, we look at 'When I arrive' - when all this will happen in the near future - as the 'present' when something else 'will happen'.
The actual correct answer is in the principal clause "i SHALL write to you. I know we seldom say this. Will is a secondary use meaning "with determination". I realize we do not say "shall"much in conversation, neverthelesss it is the more correct form for first person singular and plural form of the futre tense.
1) Is the English an awkward version of "When I arrive I will write you"? and 2) Is the Italian the proper way of saying "When I arrive I will write you"?
edit: They did change it from "When I will arrive I will write you" to the current version! :)
webMan1 it is acceptable in english to say when i arrive i will write you. It's more informal than will write to you. nevertheless you hear this all the time in the USA.
There are two points here; one is the main point to illustrate the difference between English and Italian in this type of sentence, ie the use of the future in both parts of the sentence in Italian and not in English. Quando arriveremo, prenderemo una tazza di caffè. = when we (will) arrive, we will have a cup of coffee. The other point is the use of "you" and not "to you" for the indirect object....this is just American English were "to" is left out in colloquial speech. Although it sounds ungrammatical to most English speakers it is a perfectly fine alternative.
Just adding my voice to the long list of users saying that in England the correct usage is, 'I will write to you.'
