Quote:
Originally Posted by aggelos  I'm afraid this is not so. Will in a reported question beginning with 'if' is correct. Look at these, if you will: He wants to know if he will be starting on the left side of midfield... Steve Lovell does not know if he will be in Aberdeen's starting line-up for the UEFA Cup match against Copenhagen on Thursday. He probably won't. He does not know if he will be in the north-east at the start of next season.
The above are from The Washington Post and from a UK site and you can see them here and here. There are a lot more examples from many British and American sites and I can give you more links if you like.
And I'll have to disagree that the sentence He wants to know if you are here tomorrow is correct. If you are going to be here tomorrow is OK.
And one last thing: A reported question (a question in reported speech) is not a conditional clause. |
Hi Aggelos
The quotations provided does not necessarily mean they are correct English. You have not quoted an English grammarian or teacher.
The sentence
He wants to know if you will be here tomorrow is in reported speech and it contains
a conditional sentence , i.e. if you are here tomorrow / if you are going to be here tomorrow. Yet,
if you are here tomorrow is correct English, if you take into consideration the fact that the present tense simple has, among other uses, the one which states a future action.
I usually follow the rules of English grammar. Let`s hope that the English teachers on this site will give us some advice or opinions on this.
Anyway, I like the way you try to demonstrate that you are right. I don`t say that you are totally wrong. Let`s wait for some English teachers` comments.
Regards,
Teia