By the time + CLAUSE – English Grammar Profiler

The phrase ‘by the time‘ is used with clauses to say that something has already happened at the time that something else happens.

Let’s look at simpler examples of the same meaning with a noun phrase:

By my 18th Birthday, I will know.

With a clause:

By the time I am 18, I will know.

It basically means I will know before the time of my birthday.

*Note that the tense may seem unusual because the present form ‘I am‘ is used even though the birthday is in the future. Similarly, here is an example using by the time + present simple tense + future clause:

By the time it lands, they will already know if anything needs to be serviced.

There is no other EGP tense that is related to this particular complex time conjunction or an English Vocabulary Profile entry. The question is what CEFR level is the use of other tenses and structures? The closest meaning in the EVP is:

A2 not later than; at/on or before

She had promised to be back by five o’clock. The application must be in by August 31st.

but the example above is a simple preposition…

So at C1, the present simple can be used for a future meaning, at A2 a very basic version of the meaning can be used, but there is no listing for the ‘by the time’ in the EVP. The Oxford Phrase List does mention ‘by the time (that) …‘ at B1.

For this reason, we will say that using ‘by the time‘ as a complex time conjunction with clauses is at least B2.

Here are past simple examples that we consider to be at least B2 complexity:

By the time that I realized he wouldn’t be able to, I tried to leave.

listen

We think she went back to look for our dog, but by the time the fire department reached them, it was too late.

TED

Looking through the PELIC corpus the majority of the uses of the structure contain errors. This means this is highly unlikely to be producible at lower levels. Here is a correct use of tenses which we have corrected a few other minor errors in from the PELIC corpus:

We didn’t need to buy some small things to live here because by the time we arrived in Pittsburgh,

our stuff such as kitchen goods, bath goods, clothes, and stationery had been shipped to my husband’s friend’s apartment.

Japanese Female level 4 grammar class

A search in iWeb for by the time grammar:

by the time * *

1 BY THE TIME I GOT 6184 2 BY THE TIME OF THE 5617 (no following clause)

One study in South Asia found that

over half of vaccine doses showed evidence of temperature damage

by the time of the end of their journey.

TED

3 BY THE TIME I WAS 5439 4 BY THE TIME YOU GET 5234 5 BY THE TIME HE WAS 4525 6 BY THE TIME WE GOT 3368 7 BY THE TIME I GET 3008 8 BY THE TIME THEY ARE 2471 9 BY THE TIME YOU ‘RE 2067 10 BY THE TIME SHE WAS 2010 11 BY THE TIME YOU READ 2008 12 BY THE TIME IT WAS 1963 13 BY THE TIME YOU ARE 1942 14 BY THE TIME WE GET 1812 15 BY THE TIME THEY REACH 1714 16 BY THE TIME YOU REACH 1702 17 BY THE TIME I HAD 1501 18 BY THE TIME YOU HAVE 1493 19 BY THE TIME THEY WERE 1415 20 BY THE TIME THEY GET 1375 21 BY THE TIME OF HIS 1334 22 BY THE TIME YOU ‘VE 1284 23 BY THE TIME YOU FINISH 1258 24 BY THE TIME WE WERE 1201 25 BY THE TIME I ‘M 1124 26 BY THE TIME HE GOT 1034 27 BY THE TIME THEY GOT 943 28 BY THE TIME THEY ‘RE 938 29 BY THE TIME IT IS 931 30 BY THE TIME IT ‘S 90431 BY THE TIME I REACHED 886 32 BY THE TIME I LEFT 861 33 BY THE TIME IT GETS 857 34 BY THE TIME IT REACHES 821 35 BY THE TIME I FINISHED 819 36 BY THE TIME WE REACHED 793 37 BY THE TIME THE FIRST 781 38 BY THE TIME THEY REACHED 687 39 BY THE TIME HE REACHED 639 40 BY THE TIME WE ARRIVED 627 41 BY THE TIME WE HAD 616 42 BY THE TIME HE LEFT 589 43 BY THE TIME WE REACH 582 44 BY THE TIME HE HAD 571 45 BY THE TIME WE LEFT 563 46 BY THE TIME THAT THE 556 47 BY THE TIME I ARRIVED 545 48 BY THE TIME THEY GRADUATE 545 49 BY THE TIME THE NEXT 535 50 BY THE TIME I AM 529 51 BY THE TIME I WENT 522 52 BY THE TIME YOU GRADUATE 514 53 BY THE TIME I ‘D 513 54 BY THE TIME WE ARE 490 55 BY THE TIME HE IS 486 56 BY THE TIME I CAME 484 57 BY THE TIME WE ‘RE 480 58 BY THE TIME THEY ARRIVED 474 59 BY THE TIME THEY HAVE 472 60 BY THE TIME YOU HIT 462 61 BY THE TIME HE GETS 460 62 BY THE TIME YOU LEAVE 458 63 BY THE TIME I HAVE 456 64 BY THE TIME HE ARRIVED 435 65 BY THE TIME I STARTED 434 66 BY THE TIME HE ‘S 431 67 BY THE TIME I FINISH 423 68 BY THE TIME SHE GOT 408 69 BY THE TIME HE DIED 391 70 BY THE TIME THE LAST 385 71 BY THE TIME WE FINISHED 379 72 BY THE TIME THE GAME 378 73 BY THE TIME YOURE DONE 376 74 BY THE TIME THEY LEAVE 367 75 BY THE TIME YOU ADD 366 76 BY THE TIME I HIT 363 77 BY THE TIME I ‘VE 36178 BY THE TIME I GRADUATED 35779 BY THE TIME I REALIZED 352 80 BY THE TIME IT GOT 345 81 BY THE TIME YOU SEE 340 82 BY THE TIME I MADE 339 83 BY THE TIME HE RETURNED 338 84 BY THE TIME THEY HAD 336 85 BY THE TIME THE SECOND 322 86 BY THE TIME THE SUN 322 87 BY THE TIME IT CAME 319 88 BY THE TIME THEY HIT 318 89 BY THE TIME HE CAME 316 90 BY THE TIME OF THIS 316 91 BY THE TIME YOU START 314 92 BY THE TIME THE NEW 307 93 BY THE TIME YOU CAN 306 94 BY THE TIME A CHILD 297 95 BY THE TIME YOU COME 295 96 BY THE TIME YOU ARRIVE 293 97 BY THE TIME OF HER 291 98 BY THE TIME I FOUND 28899 BY THE TIME THE SEASON 288 100 BY THE TIME SHE IS 287

B1 vocabulary: reached, realized, season B2: graduated

We have already covered by the time grammar on another page.