Complex Sentences with Adverbial Clauses of Concession

Exercise 1

Analyse the moods of the verbs in bold type and point out the modal verbs used in adverbial clauses of concession.

1. I don’t believe in children being slaves of habit, however small they are (Bennet).

2. The sun was hot now although the breeze was rising (Hemingway).

3. But even if that day never comes, Cora and I still had what you can’t destroy (Wilson).

4. However numerous they may be they are all to be seen (Dickens).

5. Whatever Charlie Potts may have been he certainly was unsuccessful (Joseph).

6. Really, his family remained hopelessly provincial, however much of London they might possess between them (Galsworthy).

7. For years he had been sure that though the inevitable might happen to others it could not happen to him (Dreiser).

8. He did not propose to lose her whatever she might think (Dreiser).

9. He had done a foolish and a contemptible thing which was not warranted however bad her actions might have been (Dreiser).

10. Though she could not stand without support, she managed by clinging to the bed to reach a chair (Bennet).

11. Nevertheless Sophia had been determined whatever should happen to complete an honest fumigation of the entire flat (Bennet).¹⁷

12. Even if Bart should be held up at the last moment as he was last Sunday, she wouldn’t let it upset her (Cusack).

13. Erik carried the books silently down to he office, picked up his hat and coat as though he were in a daze and left the building (Wilson).

14. How find out why without appearing to take interest? And suddenly she thought: “Even if I could I wouldn’t. Anything that matters he must tell me himself”(Galsworthy).

15. Whatever happened she would return to the five towns (Bennet).

16. Even if I had not seen this magnificent canvas I should have known you anywhere as an artist (Cronin).

17. I always understood you did so as a form of expiation, even though you had asked Dinny to marry you (Galsworthy).

Exercise 2

Make up complex sentences with adverbial clauses of concession according to the models.

1. E teaches them

1 The conjunctions wherever, whenever, whatever and the like commonly used to join concessive subordinate clauses retain the meaning of concession when joining other types of clauses.

2 The conjunction whence is highly literary or archaic.

3 For whenever see Note on p. 1.

4 The clauses connected by no sooner than, although conveying time relations, may be regarded as co-ordinate or mutually dependent. (See also sentences 15 and 17 with adverbial clauses of time of similar meaning).

5 See note on page 2.

6 The conjunction “because” is the most frequent of all; “because” as well as “as” is stylistically neutral, whereas the other conjunctions are usually confined to bookish style.

7 Unlike the other conjunctions, which express cause proper “for” expresses the grounds for the conclusions made in the principal clause (основание для заключения) or else a cause presented as an after thought. “For” may be also regarded as a coordinating conjunction

8 With the adverb of degree “so” or the pronoun “such” the word order in the principal clause may be inverted.

9 The verbs “can” and “may” are frequent in adverbial clauses of purpose; “should” with the non-perfect infinitive is common in clauses of negative meaning.

10 The use of the oblique mood form of the type “be”, “say” is rare.

11 To distinguish between the clauses see whether or not the principal clause expresses a deliberate action (целенаправленное действие); in case the clauses are joined by “that” take into account the presence of the correlated words “so” and “such” in the principal clause.

12 To distinguish between the clauses see whether or not the principal clause expresses a deliberate action and whether the conjunctions “lest” and “for fear” have a negative meaning.

13 The perfect form is used here to express a highly unreal action simultaneous to the action of the principal clause; this use of the perfect form is rare.

14 The form of the oblique mood “was” instead of “were” is common in colloquial English.

15 The model with the indicative mood is less common than Model 1 and is confined to colloquial English.

16 When “would” is used in the adverbial clause of condition it is a modal verb (see exercise 1 above).

17 “should” + infinitive usually refers the action to the future (which can also be done by means of the modal verb “may”).

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