Adverbial clauses

clauses of time
time of the matrix clause can be previous, simultaneous or subsequent to the time of the adverbial
clause; it can also convey duration, recurrence and relative proximity
introduced by subordinators as: after, as, once, since, until, when, while
the ing clauses are introduced by once, till, until, when, whenever, while and whilst, and the ed
clauses are introduced by as soon as, once, till, until, when, whenever, while and whilst
to-infinitive clauses without a subordinator or a subject may have temporal function, expressing the
outcome (I awoke one morning to find the house in an uproar.)
a durative verb in the matrix clause expresses duration of time together with outcome (She lived to
be 100. | Youll live to regret it.)
when the matrix is imperative, the sentence with a before-clause may imply a conditional
relationship as well as time (Go before I call the police. Go! If you dont Ill call the police.)
after, when and whenever may have an implication of cause (He felt better after he had a short nap.
| I hit him back when he hit me. | My heart leaps whenever I see you.)
when may also imply concession (They were gossiping, when they shouldve been working.)

clauses of place
introduced mainly by where or wherever, the first one being specific and the second one
nonspecific, and the clause may indicate position (Where the fire had been, we saw nothing but
blackened ruins.) or direction (They went wherever they could find work.)
some temporal subordinators may have a place meaning in description of scenes, when theyre
described dynamically in terms of movement (Take the right fork when the road splits into two. | The
river continues winding until it reaches a large lake. | The building becomes narrower as it rises
higher. | The road stops just after it goes under a bridge.)
where- clauses may combine place and contrast (Where I saw only wilderness, they saw abundant
signs of life.)
the archaic forms whence and whither are found mostly in religious language

clauses of condition, concession, and contrast

there is considerable overlap in these types of clauses, they overlap bcs the three roles is
highlighted by the overlapping use of subordinators, e.g. if can introduce all three types, whereas
contract and concessive clauses

conditional clauses
most common subordinators are if and unless, but others can be used, e.g. given that, on condition
that, provided that, providing that, supposing that
they mostly express a direct condition, but can also have an indirect one (His style is florid, if thats
the right word. | If youre going my way, I need a lift.)
open condition neutral, leaves the question of the fulfillment or nonfulfilment unresolved (If Colins
in London, he must be staying at the Hilton.

hypothetical condition conveys the speakers belief that the condition will not be fulfilled (for
future), isnt fulfilled (for present), or wasnt fulfilled (for past) (If he changed his options, hed be a
more likeable person. | They would be here with us if they had the time.)
conditional clauses are generally either neutral in their expectation of an answer of biased towards
an answer (If you ever touch me again, Ill scream. | Shes taking a stick with her in case she has any
trouble on the way.)
future hypothetical conditions can be expressed by was/were or should
conditional clauses may be inverted (had I known, were she in charge, should you be interested)
given that and assuming that are mostly used for open condition
rhetorical condition clauses
give the appearance of expressing an open condition, but actually make a strong assertion
there are two types:
a) if the proposition in the matrix is absurd, the proposition in the conditional clause is shown
to be false (If theyre Irish, Im the Pope. | If you believe that, youll believe anything.)
b) if the proposition in the conditional clause is true, the one in the matrix is shown to be true
(Hes ninety if hes a day. | The package weighed ten pounds if it weighed an ounce.)

concessive clauses
introduced mostly by although or though as its informal variant subordinators such as while,
whereas and even if can also be used all for whereas introduce ing, -ed and verbless clauses
indicate that the situation in the matrix is contrary to what one might expect
alternative conditional-concessive clauses
whether or combines the conditional meaning of if with the meaning of either or (Whether he
pays for the broken vase or (whether) he replaces it with a new one, Im inviting him again.)
the concessive meaning comes from the implication that it is unexpected for the same situation to
apply under two contrasting conditions.
universal conditional-concessive clauses
indicate a free choice from any number of conditions introduced by a wh-word combined with ever (Whatever I say to them, I cant keep them quiet. | Stand perfectly still, wherever you are.)

clauses of contrast
introduced by whereas, while and whilst; the contractive meaning may be emphasized by
correlative antithetic conjuncts such as in contrast and by contrast (Mr. Larson teaches physics, while
Mr. Corby teaches chemistry.)

clauses of exception
introduced by but that, except, except that, only, accepting that, save, save that (I would pay you
now, except that I dont have any money on me. | I wouldve asked you, only she told me not to.)
clauses introduced by but that and only must follow the matrix clause

reason clauses
introduced by: because, since, as, for, seeing (that)
reason clauses may express an indirect reason, when the reason is not related to the situation in
the matrix clause but is a motivation for the implicit speech act of the utterance (As you're in charge,
where are the files on the new project? | She is your favorite aunt, because your parents told me so.)

purpose clauses
usually infinitival
introduced by: in order to and so as to
finite clauses of purpose are introduced by so that, so (informally), and in order that (formally)
they require a modal auxiliary (The school closes early so that kids can get home before dark.)

result clauses
introduced by: so that and so
they can be similar to purpose clauses, the diff is that they don't need a modal auxiliary

clauses of similarity and comparison

clauses of similarity are introduced by as and like, which are mostly premodified by just and exactly
(Please do exactly as I said. | It was just like I imagined it would be.)
clauses of comparison are introduced by as if, as though, and like (She looks as if she's getting
better)
the subordinators as, as if and as though can introduced NF and verbless clauses

clauses of proportion
involve a kind of comparison express a proportionality or equivalence of tendency or degree
between two situations
introduced by as + so or the... the (As she grew disheartened, so his work deteriorated | The more
she thought about it, the less she liked it.)

clauses of preference
usually nonfinite, introduced by rather than and sooner than (Rather than go there by air, I'd take
the slowest train. | They'll fight to the finish sooner than surrender.)

comment clauses
may occur initially, finally or medially:
a) like the matrix of a main clause (There were no other applicants, I believe, for that job.)
b) an adverbial finite clause introduced by as (I'm working the night shift, as you know.)
c) a nominal relative clause (What was more upsetting, we lost all our luggage.)
d) to-infinitive clause as a style disjunct (I'm not sure what to do, to be honest.)
e) ing clause as a style disjunct (I doubt, speaking as a layman, whether TV is the right medium
for that story.)
f) ed clause as a style disjunct (Stated bluntly, he had no chance of winning.)