Hi Maryam,

Very good question to which I’d have to start by saying it’s not strictly grammatical – essentially the meaning of that conditional would be more accurately written as “if you teach him to make his own, you will have helped him”, which is a variation on a first conditional future possibility. This is very much a matter of style in this example; it emphasises the result by making it sound like a real possibility, whereas “if you teach him, you will help him” sounds more like an abstract rule. By using both the future and the perfect, the writer makes it sound like the general truth has a real result. It’s a very interesting example which you probably wouldn’t find used too commonly, and you probably wouldn’t find it in many grammar guides (if any, I do wonder!) – but I don’t think anyone would necessarily say there’s anything wrong with it.

The conditionals overall can be a little flexible like this, it’s part of what makes them rather difficult to master. As with a lot in English, I suppose the basic rules are a bit of a starting point.

Phil

If Present simple + present simple

If Present progressive + present progressive

If Present perfect + present perfect.

But while reading I found this pattern of conditional sentence .

Present simple + present perfect

Here is example:
Give a mam fish , as the saying goes ,and you are helping him little bit for a very short time ;teach him the art of fishing , and he can help himself all his life .
Further ,If you teach him to make his own fishing net, You have helped him to become not only self -supporting but also self- reliant and independent man and businessman.
Could you explain why writer has used
this unusual Patten.

Hi Kaoru,
You are correct, generally the simple tense would be appropriate here, as for a future time clause we’re mostly interested in indicated the time itself, and a simple tense is enough. The present perfect is possible, too, though – again it emphasises the action’s completion, so it’s useful to draw attention to the completion of the action or a determination to do it. In your example, “as soon as I get home” would tell us that is when I will call, but “as soon as I have got home” emphasises that there is a process involved in getting home, perhaps as a reminder that you must complete that journey first.

Hi Edward, ‘when’ is usually used to define a specific point in time when an action/event is realised, so even for a future time we use the present simple. “When he gets here, the meeting will start.” – not “When he will get here” – because we are defining the point in time when that action is true, not looking at it conditionally (i.e. if it will happen).

To describe defined times, then, we don’t really use ‘when’ and ‘will’ together; but the exception is that we *do* combine them for if that time is unknown/uncertain: “I don’t know when the package will arrive.” “She is unsure when the dinner will be ready.” (as here the present simple ‘when the package arrives’ would suggest a defining time).

I hope this makes sense?

Phil

You’re welcome, I’m glad it helped!