40.Subordinate clauses of adverbial positions.

Adverbial clauses are usually classified according to their meaning, that is, according to the relation they bear to the main clause. They differ from nominal and attributive clauses in that they are introduced by conjunctions with a more distinct meaning. Some types of adverbial clauses may be introduced by at least a dozen different conjunctions (as for instance adverbial clauses of time). On the other hand, many of the conjunctions are used to introduce more than one kind of clause (as, since, that, when, now that). In some cases the meanings and functions of the conjunction are so numerous that it is really difficult to say what the basic meaning of the conjunction is, as its function depends on the meaning of the clauses and their relationship.

Conditional clauses may be joined asyndetically, though they have link-inversion in this case. Here the meaning and function of the clause can be inferred only from the meaning of the subordinate and the main clause.

An adverbial clause may qualify the whole main clause, the verbal predicate or any verbal part, and also parts expressed by an adjective or adverb. Its position therefore varies: it may be initial, medial, or final -depending on the position of the part of the sentence it refers to and on the general structure of the main clause.

Women are very shy when they are expressing their emotions.

One day, because the days were so short, he decided to give up algebra and geometry).

Types of adverbial clauses

§ 164. According to their semantics we distinguish adverbial clauses of place, time, manner, comparison, condition, concession, purpose, cause, result.

The complex sentence with an adverbial clause of place

§ 165. An adverbial clause of place defines the place or the direction of the action expressed in the principal clause. It may be introduced by one of the following conjunctions: where, whence, wherever, everywhere (that) and conjunctive adverbs with prepositions. A clause introduced by wherever can express direction as well as position.

He was standing where he always had stood, on the rug before the living-room fire.

From where he stood he could see nothing.

Wherever they came people greeted them enthusiastically.

Why can't we go where it's warm?

He took a chair whence he could see the street.

The complex sentence with an adverbial clause of time

§ 166. An adverbial clause of time characterizes the action expressed in the main clause from the temporal point of view. The action may be expressed by a finite or non-finite form of the verb.

An adverbial clause of time may be introduced by conjunctions: as, as soon as, as long as, when, whenever, while, now that, till, until, after, before, since; recently formed conjunctions and phrasal conjunctions: the time (that), the day (that), the moment, the instant, next time, every (each) time, directly, immediately, instantly, once.

Every conjunction in the above list imparts a particular shade of meaning to the temporal relation - priority, simultaneity, succession of actions, the beginning or the end of the action, repetition, coincidence of two actions, gradual development of a process, etc. These temporal rela­tions can be illustrated by the following examples:

When a Forsyte was engaged, married, or born, the Forsytes were present. Whenever there was a pause, he gently asked again. (The conjunctions when and whenever introduce clauses expressing repetition.)

As they stood up Ivory clapped him on the shoulder (The clause denotes the moment when the action of the principal clause takes place.)

The conjunctions till and until introduce clauses which fix the end of the action in the main clause if the latter contains no negation, as in:

She resolved to wait till Clym came to look for her.

If the time reference in the subordinate clause with till or until is to a commencement point, the main clause is always negative. For example:

He did not say a word till he was asked.

They did not marry until she was forty.

The boy did not start to read until he went to school.

Corresponding sentences with affirmative main clauses are impossible unless, the conjunction before is used.

*He said a word till he was asked——>He said some words before he was asked.

*They married until she was forty ——>They married before she was forty.

The conjunction since may introduce a clause which indicates the beginning of a period of time continuing until now or until some time in the past. In the first case the present perfect is used in the principal clause, in the second the past perfect. In a temporal clause the past indefinite tense is used in both cases. For example:

I have only seen him once since I left school.

She had been such of a companion to him since she was three years old.

If the actions expressed in both clauses are durative and still continuing, the present perfect tense is used in both the clauses, as in:

Since we have been friends we have never quarrelled.

Conjunctions of recent formation have mainly been formed from nouns denoting time, although some are formed from adverbs denoting time. They are the time, the moment, the instant, immediately, directly and others. Most of them are used to introduce subordinate clauses denoting the exact moment of the action in the main clause or the quick succession of the actions in both clauses.

We'll be married the very moment we find a house.

Immediately he had lain down and closed his eyes, his consciousness went racing on without him.

Directly he saw me, he slipped back into the room.

Some of the temporal conjunctions are not confined to clauses of time. Thus as may be used to join clauses of cause, manner, concession, comparison and also to introduce parenthetic clauses. The conjunction since may introduce clauses of reason. The conjunctions when and while may express adversative relations, in which case they can hardly be considered subordinating conjunctions. When can introduce a clause containing a new piece of information, not prepared for by the preceding narrative, and thus indicates a quick succession of actions. The conjunction whenever generally expresses temporal relations, but the idea of time often mingles with that of concession.

At the sound of that knock she jumped up, when the brass candlestick clattered to the floor. (The conjunction when expresses the quick succession of actions.)

She left the room in the pursuit of her duties, when no duty could have taken her away if she had wished to stay.

His life has been mined for him, when he is but one-and-twenty.

(In the last two sentences the conjunction when expresses a concessive relation.)

The complex sentence with an adverbial clause of manner

§ 167. Adverbial clauses of manner characterize actions, states, qualities, circumstances. Therefore they may have different reference. The most common conjunctions to introduce them are as and the way.

Adverbial clauses of manner may have different reference: