tenses - "What do you want to be when you grow up?"


The usual question and answer seem to be of the form



What do you want to be when you grow up?


I want to be a singer when I grow up.



Should it not be



What do you want to be when you have grown up?


I want to be a singer when I have grown up.



Here we have interpreted grow up as the process at whose end one becomes a singer. Should the first pair be considered correct simply because of its accepted usage, or is there an alternative explanation for this?



Answer



No, because a present tense is normal for an achievement in the future:



When I am ready


When I get tired


When I reach London



In all of these a perfect is possible ("When I have reached London" etc), but not required.


"Grow up" can be a process, but in "When you grow up" it is, at least notionally, an achievement (i.e. end of a process).


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