Is it wrong to say "If I will have the chance to go to the US..."? This is in the context of expressing one's dream/plan in the future. Is it better to say "If I have the chance (in the future, say 10 years from now) to go to the US..."? Not sure if it should have 'WILL' or not. If both are grammatically correct, which is better? Thanks.
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"Will" is hardly ever used in antecedents of conditionals in English, even when the possibility is conceived as in the far future. It's not clear whether it is ungrammatical, but it is certainly unidiomatic.
The usual way of expressing the distant possibility that you want is "If I ever have the chance ... "
Colin Fine
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Thank you for your answer. Based on what you said, is it also wrong to say "If I will have a son..." or "If I will have a successful career (10 yrs from now)..."? Thanks a lot. – SES Feb 03 '16 at 11:13
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Thanks. How should I phrase those two future conditionals (of having a son, or having a successful career in the future) to be idiomatic? – SES Feb 03 '16 at 11:18
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"If I have", or "If I ever have" to convey the distance in time, or the uncertainty. For the career, perhaps "If I eventually have a successful career". – Colin Fine Feb 03 '16 at 12:55
willis not needed, and although i'm not sure it's grammatically incorrect it sounds weird to me. – 123 Feb 03 '16 at 10:03