Adverbial clause of time

Introduction
In this analysis, I propose myself to present the adverbial clause of time and the
necessary introductory conjunctions used in order to make correct structure
sentences.
First of all, to have the idea where the adverbial clause come from, I will define
word by word to be easier to understand. An adverb is a word that describes or
adds to the meaning of a verb, an adjective and another adverb. A clause is a group
of related words containing a subject and a verb and it forms a sentence or part of a
sentence and often functions as a noon, an adjective or an adverb. Adverb clauses
are called adverb clauses, because they function to describe or define the why,
how, when or conditions under which something happens. They are easy to
identify, because they begin with the subordinating conjugations one’s already
used to identify as: after, since, if, when, because, although, until, unless etc.
Adverb clauses can appear anywhere in a sentence: as the sentence opener,
between the subject and performing verb of the independent clause, or as the
sentence closer.
Adverbial clause is a dependent clause and the fact that makes it different from a
noun clause or an adjective clause is that the adverbial clause does not modify the
words. A noun clause modifies or acts as a specific function to something in the
independent clause: a subject, an object of the verb or a complement; the adjective
clause always modifies or identifies a noun in the sentence while the adverb clause
shows the relationship between the main clause and the temporal clause. An
important fact to mention is that the subordinate conjunctions, the words that join
the clause to the independent clause has a very specific function. The two clauses,
the independent and the subordinate clause have a very distinct relationship. These
relationships are for place, time, manner, comparison, reason, result, purpose,
concession and condition.

Theoretic considerations

How I already mentioned above, I am going to analyse the adverbial clause of time
with all kinds of subtypes and its introductory elements. Due to the fact that
adverbial clauses of time are several types of clauses which inform about the time
frame, they are quite common in English language. These clauses are introduced
by an adverb of time such as when, whenever, while, as, before, after, till, until,
since, as soon as... According to the moment they refer to, the adverbial clauses of
time can be divided into several types:

1. Adverbial Clauses of Boundary

 The adverbial clause of time has as the main pro-form when that can be used
as subordinator. In an example such as:
“I will come when you are prepared.”
when functions as an adverb clause of time, which function itself is as an adverb of
time. In this case when stands for an unspecified time frame, but it does not refer to
a specific moment in time.
 The subordinator after is another frequently used subordinator which is
generally used in finite adverbial clauses of time.
“I will come after the party begins.”
The conjunction after refers to an open time frame that begins subsequent to the
event or action expressed by the verb of the main clause.
 As soon as marks a specific time frame which starts when the action of the
main clause ends:
“I will tell you her secret as soon as I have her permission.”

 The subordinator until is considered to express the duration of an action:

“I will ask him until he will answer me.”
However, in some cases in which until can be used in adverbial clauses of time
when the verb in the main clause is in negative form:
“He didn’t want to start playing the piano until he sees his teacher.”
In this case, the event in the adverbial clause of time does not begin until the action
in the main clause occurs.

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  The conjunction while is used in clauses in which the person who speaks
wants to express two actions that are taking place in the same time:
“Michael watched TV while his wife cooks the dinner.”
“I will finish my homework while you fix the car.”

2. Adverbial Clauses of Frequency

The adverbial clauses of frequency are less common in comparison with the
adverbial clauses of boundary. They show how often or how many times an
action repeats in a certain determined period of time and they are introduced by
the subordinator whenever and some other subordinators containing the
construction as……as. Always use adverbs of frequency to discuss how often
something happens.
There are some rules for adverbs of frequency that will help to use them
correctly:
 Adverbs of frequency are usually used to indicate routine or repeated
activities, so they are often used with the present simple tense.
 If a sentence includes just one verb, place the adverb of frequency in the
middle of the sentence, so that it is positioned after the subject but before the
verb. For example: My dog never bites. He always just barks.
 When a sentence contains more verbs, place the adverb of frequency before
the main verb. For example: My father has often visited America.
 In the negative or in forming questions, the adverb of frequency places
before the main verb. For example: Do you usually get up so early?
More examples:
“How often does he go to the cinema?”
“He calls his mother whenever misses her.”
“I read a book as often as I can.”

3. Adverbial Clauses of Duration

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The adverbial clauses of time mainly express the duration of an event. The most
common preposition used in this type of constructions is since, because it
emphasizes the duration of the action expressed by the predicate.
“I have known her husband since we were kids.”
“We have been cooperating since he agreed to do the project in my way.”
The subordinator since can be preceded in some cases by ever. The difference
between them is that ever intensifies the idea of duration.
“I have known her husband ever since we were kids.”

As long as is another subordinator that introduces adverbial clauses of duration.

“They have been in a marriage as long as they were both alive.”
“He will wait at the rail station as long as it will be necessary to not miss the
train.”

Sequence of tenses in adverbial clauses of time

Adverbial clauses of duration co-occur with the perfect tense in order to emphasize
the idea of duration. The subordinators of adverbial clauses of time allow to the
speaker to manipulate the time frame according to his/her needs. However, there
are some restrictions in using the tenses in this type of clause. There are several
exceptions:
a. When the actions expressed by the verb of the main clause and the
verb of the temporal clause take place simultaneous, they can be
indicated by the present tense or the past tense in both clauses:
“He guides us whenever we need.”
“He guided us whenever we needed.”

- But when the verb from the main clause is a future tense it is followed by
a present tense in the subordinate clause:
“He will guide us when we need.”

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 b. When the action expressed by the verb in the main clause is preceded by
the action expressed by the verb in the temporal clause the present tense or the
future tense in the main clause is followed by the present perfect in the
subordinate clause:
“We will go on holiday after I have finished this project.”
but the past tense in the main clause is followed by the past perfect in the
subordinate clause:
“My little cousin broke his arm after he had fallen from the bicycle.”

Note: When the two actions are in parallel, it is also used the present perfect in
subordinate clause:
“Paul has made a lot of money since he has started his own business.”

c. When the action expressed by the verb of the subordinate clause is

preceded by the action expressed by the verb of the main clause, the past tense (or
past perfect) in the main clause is followed by the past tense in the temporal clause.
This type of temporal clauses is introduced by the conjunctions till, until, before,
when.
“I had left the office before you came.”

It is the same when the main clause contains a past perfect – the temporal clauses
are in past tense. This rule is applied with the following expressions: hardly/
scarcely…when, no sooner …than.
“Hardly had I reached the station when the train came.
“No sooner had she finished one project than she started working on the next.”

Conclusions
Adverbial clauses are dependent sentences also called subordinate clauses that do
not modify the words, but indicate the relationship between the main clause and

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the temporal clause. They have a specific function, that can be place, time, manner,
comparison, reason, purpose, result, concession and condition.
Adverbial clauses of time are used in English to demonstrate a period of time
based on an action or event. There are three subtypes of adverbial clauses of time:
boundary, frequency and duration. The subordinators or the introductory elements
used the most are: when, whenever, while, after, until, till, as, as soon as, as long
as, before, since, no sooner...than, hardly...when and they are all related to time of
course.

Bibliography
1. Cerban, Mădălina.” The Syntactic Structure of Complex
Sentences.”Craiova: Editura Universitaria, 2012
2. https://englishlessonsbrighton.co.uk/time-clauses-explanation-rules-exercise/
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkooLJ9MWVE

Text to analyse (Types of clauses and introductory elements.)

Sandition by Jane Austen
"Not down in the weald, I am sure," replied the traveller pleasantly. "It took
us half an hour to climb your hill. Well, I dare say it is as you say and I have
made an abominably stupid blunder—all done in a moment. The
advertisements did not catch my eye till the last half hour of our being in
town—when everything was in the hurry and confusion which always
attend a short stay there. One is never able to complete anything in the
way of business, you know, till the carriage is at the door. And, accordingly
satisfying myself with a brief inquiry, and finding we were actually to pass
within a mile or two of a Willingden, I sought no farther...My dear," (to his
wife) "I am very sorry to have brought you into this scrape. But do not be
alarmed about my leg. It gives me no pain while I am quiet.”

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The first sentence: “"Not down in the weald, I am sure," replied the traveller
pleasantly.” contains two main clauses, because both of them stand by themselves,
that’s why they are called independent clauses. The mark that separate the two
main clauses is the coma. The sentence ("It took us half an hour) is the main
clause, while (to climb your hill.) is the infinitive clause having the verb “to climb”
in infinitive.
The sentence: “Well, I dare say” is the main clause, the next one:” it is” is the
subject clause (the conjunction that helps to identify a subject clause is it) ; “as
you say” is the manner clause, being introduced by the subordinator as. The
sentence: “and I have made an abominably stupid blunder —all done in a
moment” is a direct object clause, subordinated to the main clause which is:” I dare
say” and responds to the question what.
“The advertisements did not catch my eye” is the main clause and “till the last half
hour of our being in town” is the adverbial clause of time introduced by the
conjunction “till”. The sentence “—when everything was in the hurry and
confusion” is also adverbial clause of time introduced by the subordinator” when”
and “which always attend a short stay there.” is a subject clause, the appearance
of which proves this.
The main clause “One is never able” is followed by an infinitive clause with the
verb:” to complete": "to complete anything in the way of business,” then comes
another main clause: “you know,” an the last sentence “till the carriage is at the
door.” is an adverbial clause of time introduced by the introductory element till.
“And, accordingly satisfying myself with a brief inquiry,” is the main clause
followed by another main clause with the connecting element and that shows the
same grammatical structure: “and finding we were actually”. The sentence: “to
pass within a mile or two of a Willingden,” is an infinitive clause, having the
infinitive form of the verb “to pass”, while “I sought no farther...My dear," (to his
wife)” is a main clause followed by another main clause “"I am very sorry”; then
“to have brought you into this scrape.”- infinitive clause.
“But do not be alarmed about my leg.” is a main clause introduced by the
conjunction but which is used for independent clauses. The sentence “It gives me
no pain” is a main clause and it stands for itself, followed by “while I am quiet.””
which is an adverbial clause of time, where while shows the temporality. There is
said that as long as he won’t move his injured leg, he doesn’t feel any pain.

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This was an extract from the Sandition by Jane Austen, page 4, third paragraph.