After you dug the hole put the tree in the hole.
After you dig the hole put the tree in the hole.
which one is correct, dug or dig?
REMINDER: NOT A TEACHER
(1) This is what Mr. Michael Swan in his popular book
Practical English Usage
says:
(a) We use a present tense if the meaning is future:
"I will telephone you
after I
arrive. (My comment: You could also say "After I
arrive, I will telephone you."
(b) We
often use the present perfect to show that one thing is completed
before another
starts:
"I will telephone you
after I
have seen Jake." (My comment: You could also say "After I have seen Jake,I will telephone you.")
***
THEREFORE:
(2) It is only my opinion that you could say:
(a) After you
dig the hole, put the tree in it.
(b) After you
have dug the hole, put the tree in it.
(3) In my opinion, probably most native speakers would use "a" in regular
conversations because it's shorter and gets to the point faster; you might want
to use "b" in writing.
