UMEI 003 RWG

Grammar Mini-lesson: Adverbial Clauses of Time

An adverbial clause, or adverb clause, is a dependent clause modifying another (independent) clause. Adverbial clauses are connected to their independent clause by a subordinating conjunction, like because, even though, while, or after.

When you add a subordinating conjunction to a sentence, you are subordinating (putting under) that sentence to another clause. You cannot use it as an independent sentence anymore.

For example:

Maryam wears glasses. She can’t see well. (2 simple sentences)

Maryam wears glasses because she can’t see well. (Complex sentence)

Maryam wears glasses. Because she can’t see well. (Wrong! Because she can’t see well cannot stand alone as a sentence. It’s a dependent clause.)

• There are several different kinds of adverbial clauses:
• Time               Sunwha opened her umbrella when the rain started.
• Place               John Chapman planted apple trees wherever he went.
• Reason            Abdullah had a snack because he was hungry.
• Purpose           Aziz set his alarm early so that he could exercise before  class.
• Result              Nourah was so tired that she took a nap before dinner.
• Concession      Mohammed bought the books even though they were expensive.
• Contrast           Saudi Arabia is large, whereas Taiwan is very small.
• Condition        Abdulrahman will probably help you if you ask him.

In 003, we are going to focus on clauses of time, reason, purpose, concession, and condition.

PAST TIME

Conjunctions express the relationship between two past actions. Which one happened first? Which one happened second? Did they happen at the same time? Did one action happen in the middle of the other action in progress? Did one action or state continue up to a point in time?

Common subordinating conjunctions of time are

• When = at the time that
• While = during the time that
• As soon as = the minute that
• Before = prior to the time that
• After = following the time that
• As = at the same time that
• (ever) since = from the time that
• Now that = because the moment has arrived
• Until = up to the time that

If one action followed another action in the past, use when, as soon as, after, or before.

• Ted woke up when his alarm clock rang.
• He went to class as soon as he finished his breakfast.
• After his class was over, he went to the coffee bar for a latte.
• He reviewed the lecture for an hour before he went to his next class.

Use while or as for an action in progress (unfinished).

• Cherry hummed to herself as she worked.
• While Rami was doing his homework, his friend called.
• David was working on vocabulary while his classmates were reading each other’s self-introductions.
• While David was working on vocabulary, his classmates were reading each other’s self-introductions.

Use (ever) since to show the starting point for a continuing state or activity.

• Meshari has studied at MEI since he came to the United States.
• Ever since she was a child, Amna has loved numbers.

Use until when a state or action continues unchanged up to a certain point.

• Abdullah laughed until he cried.
• Christiano can’t play for the Terps until he learns English.

Use now that to mean because + now. We use it when a condition we have been waiting for is finally met.

• Now that it has stopped raining, we can take our walk.
• Mohammed can get his driver’s license now that he is 17.

Exercise: Complete the sentences with one of the common subordinating conjunctions of time. Some sentences may have more than one possible completion.

1. ___________ the rain stopped, the children went out to play.
2. We will study chapter 2 ___________ we finish chapter 1.
3. Ebtehaj walked _____________ she was too tired to go any farther.
4. ___________ Christiano was walking to class, he met Meshari.
5. ___________ everyone is here, we can begin.
6. ___________ the students heard the news, they were very happy.
7. Amna read her book ____________ she fell asleep.
8. Amna was reading her book ____________ she fell asleep.
9. ___________ she was sleeping, it started to rain.
10. The street was wet _______________ she woke up.
11. Paul has had a driver’s license ____________ he was 17 years old.
12. Meshari is much happier ______________ he can understand what people say to him.

What do you notice about the order of time clauses? Which clause comes first? Which clause comes second?

When do we use a comma between the independent (main) clause and the time clause?