future tense of a present tense

Question

My time for the marathon next year will certainly be worse than it is tomorrow.
(The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language)

Is is being present tense saying is is the same tense of future as will (simultaneity); or is is anterior to will?

Answer 1

You have had a lot of excellent explanation here, more than enough to understand how these words are doing their work. I merely want to add a direct, explicit answer to your specific question, which, as far as I can tell, has not yet appeared in this discussion.

You are wondering if there is a temporal connection between will and is in your original example, and the simple answer is no. The way these words are used here does not establish a time, tense, modal, nor any other relative kind of connection between them. I see that you are reading is as if it is meant to imply the events are occurring at the same time, but it puzzles you because normally is comes before will.

From the answers you already have, you now can see that the timing of the events is established by "next year" and "tomorrow," so there is no question of which occurs when. You then also can see that the usual relationship between "is" and "will," in the way you are regarding their tenses (or modality), is not operative here, because "is" is being used in an unusual, but still acceptable, way. The relationship between "is" and "will" cannot, in this case, override the defining "time definition" that the reader is required to understand from "next year" and "tomorrow."

Answer 2

I hate to disagree with “The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language”, but the “it” looks to me as though it refers to, not merely “my time”, but, “my time for the marathon next year”. Thus, I would say, “that of tomorrow”… or just “tomorrow’s”.

As for loose use of tense… [not that I actually would do this, but] I would go for “than it was tomorrow”, since looking back from next year seems to fit better than viewing tomorrow as the present. Not being dogmatic.

(It looks to me as though noone has actually explicitly answered your question (including myself), but that it is probably fairly clear now anyway.)

Answer 3

The guide is giving an example of commonly used phrasing; that is, you can use "is" that way, and it has been used that way, and you will be understood. Best to avoid it in formal writing, though.

Answer 4

You normally don't use is by itself for the future tense.

Is can be "anterior" to be, but only if it's followed by "going to." You can create the simple future tense with either be (e.g. am/is/are) going to or will.

I think "is" is awkward in your sentence. I like to keep the subjects/verbs in a parallel structure when comparing like events. Here's what I mean:

My time for the marathon next year is certainly going to be worse than it's going to be tomorrow.

Be (bare infinitive) is still your main verb, not is.

Will works too though:

My time for the marathon next year will certainly be worse than it is will be tomorrow.

You have two independent clauses that are being joined by than (than is functioning as a conjunction). I can break those clauses down like this:

My time for the marathon next year will be worse.

It (or My time) will be worse tomorrow.

Because the subject of both clauses is the same (time), and since you can use the same verb for both clauses, you can even truncate it further:

My time for the marathon next year will certainly be worse than it will be tomorrow.

EDIT: It's not at all incorrect. I'd be more concerned that my reader would think I made a grammatical error the way that it is constructed though. It just sounds off, which is why many, including me, misread it. Upon re-reading (several times over), it does work. I'd say that going to is implied whether you include it or not.

I recommend that when comparing like events, that you stay consistent with your modals. I was wrong, however, to state that is can never be used for the future. See below.