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.)