Adverb Clauses

Adverbs, adverb phrases, and adverb clauses

Look at these sentences:
I saw the movie yesterday.
I saw the movie on Friday.
I saw the movie before I left for Calgary.

In the first sentence, yesterday is a one-word adverb, on Friday is an adverb

phrase, and before I left for Calgary is an adverb clause.

All of them answer the question When?, but the adverb clause has a subject ("I")
and a full verb ("left"). It is introduced by "before", so it is a dependent clause. This
means that it cannot stand alone: "Before I left for Calgary" would not be a full
sentence. It needs a main clause ("I saw the movie"). An adverb clause, then, is a
dependent clause that does the same job as an adverb or an adverb phrase.

Types of Adverb Clauses

There are many types of adverb clauses. Adverb clauses express when, why,
opposition and conditions and are dependent clauses. This means that an
adverb clause can not stand by itself - in other words, "When he went to New York."
is not a complete sentence. It needs to be completed by an independent clause.
Example:
He went to the Guggenheim museum when he was in New York.

Here are some examples:

Type Question Answered Example
Place Where? Wherever there are
computers, there is
Microsoft software.
Time When? After the fruit is harvested,
it is sold at the market.
Cause Why? (What caused this?) I didn't call her because
I'm shy.
She took a computer
course so that she could
get a better job.
Concession Why is this unexpected? Although Jay has a
Master's degree, he works
as a store clerk.
Condition Under what conditions? If you save your money,
you will be able to go to
college.

As you can see from the examples above, most adverb clauses can be recognized
because they are introduced by a particular word or phrase (such as "when", "so
ajvilches. 6/ 2009
http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blgr_adverbclauses.htm
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/grammar/advcls.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv122.shtml
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
http://grammar.about.com/od/basicsentencegrammar/a/sbadvclauses.htm
that", etc.). These words and phrases are called subordinating conjunctions.

Subordination conjunctions
I. Time
after until
as soon as when
as long as whenever
before while
once

Examples:
I fell asleep as soon as I lay down.
We can leave whenever you're ready.

II. Place
where
wherever

Examples:
I'll follow you wherever you go.
Where there's smoke, there's fire.

III. Cause
because so that
as in order that
since

Examples:
I can't work well with because/ as/ since I don't like her very much.
He’s staying on in Australia for nine more months so that/ in order that he
can perfect his English.

IV. Concession and Comparison

though as
although just as
even though whereas
as though while

Examples:
Though/ Although/ Even though his daughter tests his patience all the time,
she remains the apple of his eye.
She looked at me as though (= like) I had gone crazy.
The situation is not so bad as you suggest.
ajvilches. 6/ 2009
http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blgr_adverbclauses.htm
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/grammar/advcls.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv122.shtml
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
http://grammar.about.com/od/basicsentencegrammar/a/sbadvclauses.htm
 She was crazy about him, whereas/ while for him it was just another affair.
Just as I thought, our flight was delayed for 10 hours because of the terrible
weather.

V. Condition
if provided that
even if unless
in case

Examples:
Even if I had time, I wouldn't do that.
In case you see Anne, say hi to her for me.
I'll let you throw a party at my place provided that you do me a favor.
You can't get in unless you can prove you're over eighteen.

Note: even if / even though

Even though means despite the fact that and is a more emphatic version of
though and although.
Even if means whether or not and has to do with the conditions that may apply.

Compare:
1. Even if I had two hours to spare for shopping, I wouldn't go out and buy a suit.
This describes an unreal situation where we could substitute 'just supposing' for
even if and say: just supposing I had two hours to spare for shopping, I still wouldn't
go out and buy a suit.

2. Even though I had two hours to spare for shopping, I couldn't find the suit I
wanted.
The second example describes a real situation where the shopper spent two hours
looking for a particular kind of suit, but couldn't find it.

Punctuation
When an adverb clause begins the sentence, use a comma to separate the two
clauses. Example:
As soon as he arrives, we will have some lunch.

When the adverb clause finishes the sentence there is no need for a comma.
Example:
He gave me a call when he arrived in town.

ajvilches. 6/ 2009
http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blgr_adverbclauses.htm
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/grammar/advcls.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv122.shtml
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
http://grammar.about.com/od/basicsentencegrammar/a/sbadvclauses.htm