English Teacher Melanie: Grammar – Present Perfect for the Future?

No, we don’t use the present perfect for the future! Take a look at this sentence, though:Tell me what you think of the movie after you’ve seen it.

Yes, the sentence is correct. It sounds strange, doesn’t it?

I have seen the movie ‘Sex and the City 2.’ [I thought it was terrible!] After I saw the movie, I talked to a friend on Twitter. My friend wants to see that movie. She hasn’t seen it yet. She will see the movie in the future. I want her to tell me her opinion after she has seen the movie.

She thought it was odd that I used the present perfect in my sentence structure, so I will attempt to explain why the sentence is correct!~

This sentence structure is a variation of the 1st conditional [future real conditional]:If you see Sex and the City 2, will you tell me what you think of it?

My friend is definitely going to see the movie, so we can change the ‘if’ to ‘when’ or ‘after’:When / After you see Sex and the City 2, will you tell me what you think of it?

Instead of asking her a question, I used the imperative:When / After you see Sex and the City 2, tell me what you think of it!

When you use the conjunction ‘after’ in this sentence structure, you can use the present simple OR the present perfect with NO difference in meaning:After you’ve seen Sex and the City 2, tell me what you think of it!~