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Hi please help. When will they have left their jobs? When will they leave their jobs? Are these the same?
Jan 28, 2023 8:20 AM
Answers · 7
Tom's last day in the office is Monday. From Tuesday he will be a pensioner. His working day is 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. When will Tom leave his job? On Monday, probably strictly speaking at 5 p.m. When will Tom have left his job? He will have left his job by Tuesday morning, in fact probably by just after 5 p.m. But you could also say that he will probably have left his job on Monday at 5 p.m. So the two are not logically the same but in this particular case they may come to the same result because leaving your job could be said to happen in an instead. Consider therefore a different example: Tom will be going on an ocean cruise after he retires. The cruise will last from March until May. While on the cruise he will paint a portrait of his wife. When will Tom go / be going on his cruise? From March to May. When will Tom paint a portrait of his wife? While he is on the cruise, from March to May. When will Tom have gone on his cruise? By the end of May. When will Tom have painted a portrait of his wife? By the time he gets back from the cruise, around the end of May. To be honest though, we don't use these "when will have" type questions very much (with the future perfect tense), except in special situations such as if we really want to emphasise the completion of something to be ready for something else, e.g. "when will you have finished your homework by, so we can go to the cinema?"
January 28, 2023
You can use the two questions interchangeably because few people will detect the difference. However, they are different. The thing that makes them different would disappear if you rephrased the question so it only mentioned one person because (1) When will he have left his job? and (2) When will he leave his job? have exactly the same answer. However, when you use "they" and "their", the meanings of the questions change. For the first question, the answer would become the moment when the last person has left his job. For the second question, there will be many answers: one specific time for each person.
January 28, 2023
These are not the same. “When will they have left their jobs (by)?” means “what’s the latest that they will leave their jobs?” For example, you could answer “they will have left their jobs by summer” This does not tell you when they’re leaving their jobs. Maybe they will actually leave their jobs in Spring, but all you know is that they will leave before summer. “When will they leave their jobs?” is more specific. You would answer this by saying “they will leave their jobs on the 16th.” Or “they will leave their jobs in February.” Hope this helps!
January 28, 2023
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