2.5 Adverbs

Day 4: Adverbial Clauses

Adverbial Clauses: Adverbial clauses provide information about what is going on in the main (independent) clause; that is, they tell you about how, when, why etc the action in the verb was done. They are the ones which contain either "when", "where", "why", "before", "because", "after", "unless", "although", "if", "since", "until", "that", "though", "while", and "as".  (Remember, the difference between a clause and a phrase is that a clause has a verb and a phrase doesn’t.)

e.g.: They will come to pay their last respects before they go back to England.

She went home early, because she had a headache.

She cried when they threw a surprise birthday party for her.

The old lady kept on walking in the rain although her legs were shaking very badly.

Adverbial clauses can sometimes be placed before the main clause.  In these cases, the meaning of the sentence is the same wherever the adverbial clause is placed.

e.g.: Before they go back to England, they will attend the wedding ceremony.

Because she had a headache, she went home early.

When they threw a surprise birthday party for her, she cried.

Although her legs were shaking so badly, the old lady kept on walking in the rain.

There are nine kinds of Adverbial Clause:

1. The Adverbial Clause of Time:

    e.g. before, after, when, while, immediately, every time, directly, the moment, the first time, not… until

e.g.: It won’t be long before the examination takes place.

He was writing a composition when the telephone rang.

I’ll tell you about it the moment you come.

Not until the policy is carried out, can they benefit from it.

2. The Adverbial Clause of Place:

     e.g. where, wherever.

e.g.: Where the ancients knew nothing, we know a little.

Wherever he happens to be, John can make himself at home.

Everywhere they went, they were kindly received.

3. The Adverbial Clause of Cause:

     e.g. because, since, as, for, seeing that, considering that, now that,.

e.g.: He felt more comfortable because he had phoned his parents.

The daybreak is coming, for the birds are singing.

Now that they have learnt a bit more, they are doing quite a good job.

4. The Adverbial Clause of Purpose:

     e.g. that, so that, in order that, for fear that, in case, lest etc.

e.g.: Let’s take the front seats so that we can hear and see the film more clearly.

The speaker worded his announcement carefully so that he would not cause any offence.

He did a lot of work, for fear that he would fail in the examination

I obeyed her lest she should be angry.

5. The Adverbial Clause of Result:

     e.g. that, so, so that, so…that, such…that

e.g.: What’s the reason that he didn’t pass the examination?

He didn’t plan the task carefully so he didn’t finish it on time.

She is so elegant a lady she deserves respect.

She is such an elegant lady that she is worth respecting.

6. The Adverbial Clause of Condition:

    e.g. if, unless, as long as, suppose, supposing, in case, so far as, on condition that, provided that, etc.

e.g.: Supposing I was a teacher, I would treat the slow students equally well.

 As long as you work hard, you will succeed in the end.

 Send us a message if you run into any difficulties.

 He is quite a conscientious man so far as I know.

7. The Adverbial Clause of Concession:

     e.g. as, whether, though, although, no matter, even if, even though, however, whatever, wherever, whenever, however, whichever, etc.

e.g.: Whether you come or not, you should finish writing this article.

   Whatever you do, you should consider the benefit to others.

    No matter where you work, you will have overall responsibility.

8. The Adverbial Clause of Comparison:

     e.g. than, as.

e.g.:  The climate in Chengdu is better than that in Harbin.

    We produced a hundred times as many cars this year as we did last year.

      Our population is many times larger than that of America.

9. The Adverbial Clause of Manner:

      e.g.: We should do as the teachers tell us.

e.g.   He acted as if he were a leader in the school.

        She sang as if she had been trained by a master.

         I’ll help you as well as I can.

Let’s do some exercises to see how well you understand this topic.

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