EnglishGrade 10ages 15–16

🌧️ If it rains…

In Hebrew, "if" is often followed by a future verb; in English, a rule that holds every time keeps both halves in the present — and that's exactly the spot where a future tense isn't allowed to go.

Updated September 22, 2026 · Maya Tutor

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What your child learns

The mistake most kids make here

Try one question

How Maya teaches it

Your child tells Maya what they did in class. She teaches this topic at her desk, asks questions with tappable answers, and when the answer is wrong she explains why that answer was tempting instead of saying “try again”. She remembers what did not land and comes back to it.

Your child has it when they can: Say: If it rains, I stay in.

How to help at home

For a rule that's true every time, English keeps "if" and the result both in the present: if it rains, I stay in. No future verb belongs after "if" in this pattern, even though the sentence is really about something that hasn't happened yet.

In Hebrew, "if" is naturally followed by a future verb — if it will rain. Carried into English, that becomes "if it will rain," which sounds like a translation because it is one.

Practice with real, repeatable rules from your child's own life: "If it rains, I ___." "If I'm tired, I ___." Both halves stay in the present every time.

A good sign of mastery: your child states a general rule with "if" and keeps both halves in the present, without a future verb slipping into the "if" clause.

Questions parents ask

Why does my child put 'will' after if?

In Hebrew, "if" is naturally followed by a future verb, so translating directly produces "if it will rain" — a pattern that doesn't hold in English for a rule that's true every time.

Isn't the rain in the future — shouldn't it be future tense?

The event itself is in the future, but English states this kind of general rule using the present tense in both halves of the sentence: "if it rains, I stay in," not "if it will rain."

What's a good way to practice?

Have your child state real rules from their own routine — about weather, about being tired, about being hungry — always keeping both halves of the sentence in the present.

How does Maya teach this differently from a worksheet?

Maya has the child state the full rule out loud, both halves together, so the present-present pattern is practiced as one unit rather than fixed word by word.

No card needed. The first lesson is free.

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