Do you know what an adverbial clause is? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on adverbial clauses, including its definition, usage, example sentences, and more!
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Kevin
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December 21, 2021
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What is an adverbial clause?
According to Your Dictionary, an adverbial clause, also sometimes known as an adverbial phrase, adverb phrase, or adverb clause, is a group of words that function as an adverb in a sentence, and are modifiers that describe verbs, a verb phrase, adverbs, and adjectives. These clauses provide additional information that elaborates on when, where, why, how, how much or under what condition the action in the sentence takes place. An adverb clause will begin begins with a subordinating conjunction, such as:
- by the time
- although
- though
- since
- even though
- till
- whenever
- than
- only
- even if
- lest
- if
- wherever
- in order that
- as long as
- as if
- in case
- whereas
- as though
- only if
- before
- because
- whether or not
- in spite of
- as much as
- now that
- unless
- as soon as
- so
- in the event that
- until, when
- while
- as
- provided that
- that
- after
- once
- supposing
- where
An adverb clause is usually a dependent clause, and not an independent clause. This is a part of the predicate and can come at the end of a sentence, middle of a sentence when using punctuation such as a comma or semicolon, or at the beginning of a sentence. There are many types of adverbs, including adverbs of time, single-word adverbs, an adverb of place, adverb of concession, adverbs of condition, adverb questions, and more. These help form a complete thought or main idea in a complex sentence or a compound sentence. It is good practice to start implementing these at the front of a sentence or the back of your sentence. While they are technically non-essential, they can give guidance or add color.
What are examples of adverbial clauses?
An adverbial clause can be used in many different contexts in the English language. Trying to use a word or literary technique in a sentence is one of the best ways to memorize what it is, but you can also try making flashcards or quizzes that test your knowledge. Try using this term of the day in a sentence today! Below are many examples of adverbial clauses from Your Dictionary that can help get you started incorporating this tool into your everyday use. The first sentence, second sentence, third sentence, and all other sentences contain adverbial clauses. See if you can determine where the main clause starts and the adverbial clause ends.
- As we bought the tickets, the overture was beginning.
- We need to find the bar where they asked us to wait.
- You need to remain calm even if everyone else panics.
- My sister, when she is angry, will turn red in the face.
- The cat made herself at home in the apartment as if she had always lived there.
- As soon as I saw you, I knew something was wrong.
- The fireworks show will start after the sun goes down.
- Once they saw the car coming, the birds flew away from the road.
- Unless you run fast, you will miss the bus.
- I won’t allow you to see that movie even though you are old enough to go.
- The day felt long because we had nothing to do.
- Unless you put in more hours, I cannot recommend you for the promotion.
- Before we go on vacation, we must make reservations
- He remembered, after he left the house, that he needed to mail the thank you cards.
- We can get some new clothes as long as the store is open late.
- Because he loved her, he didn’t believe she was having an affair.
- Chocolate, because it has a low melting point, can be difficult to bake with.
- We can swim in the pool as soon as you put on sunscreen.
- Elephants, although they are large, are not predators.
- Give us a call when you get back from your trip.
- You must keep practicing the song until you get it right.
- If you pay your bills on time, you can have a good credit score.
- Frank ran the race as though his life depended on it.
- Now that everyone has left the party, we need to start cleaning.
- Since I’ll have the tendency to be working late, I’ll eat downtown.
- Although she has a business degree, she is working as a retail clerk.
- I never knew how wonderful life could be until I met you.
- Marty kept his schedule open in case his wife went into labor.
- Whether you like it or not, you have to go to bed now.
What are other literary techniques and devices?
There are many different literary and grammatical techniques and devices that you might see when you are reading prose or poetry. It is important to recognize these terms because they are always used for some purpose. Knowing these devices can help readers understand the author’s deeper meaning and why they are using such a device. Take a look at the below list of grammatical devices from OED and see how many you know! Then try researching ones that are unfamiliar to you.Â
- morpheme
- apposition
- dative
- abstract
- positive
- participial adjective
- main clause
- head
- appositive
- direct object
- clause
- direct speech
- feminine
- infinitive
- demonstrative
- noun (n.)
- suffix
- element
- zero
- bare infinitive
- mood
- cognate object
- adverbial | adverbially
- subjunctive
- passive
- conjunction (conj.)
- postmodify | postmodifier
- pleonasm | pleonastic
- gender
- article
- present participle
- inflection | inflected | inflectional
- active
- parasynthetic
- special use
- intransitive
- participle | past participle | present participle
- count noun
- indirect question
- parenthetical | parenthetically
- complementary
- progressive
- phrase (phr.)
- double object
- conditional
- optative
- agree | agreement
- indirect passive
- phrasal verb
- possessive
- modify | modifier
- copular verb | copula
- that-clause
- adjective
- apodosis and protasis
- past participle
- personal pronoun
- quasi-
- indirect speech
- protasis
- predicative
- finite
- indefinite
- to-infinitive
- neuter
- part of speech
- tense
- indirect object
- nominal relative | nominal relative clause
- nominative
- verb (v.)
- attributive
- unmarked genitive
- object | direct object | indirect object
- adverb (adv.)
- subordinate clause
- subject
- ellipsis | elliptical
- proper noun | proper name
- non-referential
- determiner
- gerund
- sentence adverb |sentence adverbial
- combination
- collective noun
- genitive
- declarative
- main verb
- construction
- anaphoric
- present tense
- premodify | premodifier
- instrumental
- verbal noun
- singular
- common noun
- modal verb | modal auxiliary verb | modal auxiliary
- preposition (prep.)
- imperative (imper.)
- direct question
- indicative
- possessive pronoun
- anticipatory
- subjective
- cataphoric
- non-finite
- objective
- complement
- perfect
- prepositional passive
- locative
- antecedent
- transitive
- accusative
- comparative
- past tense
- agent noun
- possessive adjective
- reflexive
- collocation | collocate
- superlative
- stem
- pro-form
- relative
- interrogative
- person
- noun phrase
- prepositional phrase
- combining form (comb. form)
- passive infinitive
- simple
- number
- first person
- compound | compounding
- interjection
- prefix
- intensifier
- pronoun (pron.)
- filler
- similative
- dependent clause
- masculine
- absolute (absol.)
- plural
- prepositional object
- base form
- third-person
- construed (const., constr.)
- mass noun
- case
- definite article
- vocative
- concrete
- auxiliary verb | auxiliary
- causative
- periphrasis | periphrastic
- dual
- second person
- impersonal (impers.)
Overall, an adverbial clause is a group of words that function as an adverb in a sentence.
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