Clauses of Time

If finite, they are introduced by one of the following subordinators: after, as, before,
once, since, till, until, when(ever), while, whilst (especially Br.E.), now (that), as long as, as
soon as, immediately (that), directly (that).
eg. When I last saw you, you lived in W. D.C.
Our hostess, once everyone had arrived, was full of good humour.
Temporal clauses are common in initial position; - ing clauses without a subj. are also
used to express time relationships:
eg. Nearing the entrance, I shook hands with my acquaintances.
The stranger, having taken out the gun, moved threateningly towards me.
Abbreviated -ing clauses may follow once, until, when(ever) and while.
eg. Once published, the book caused a stir.
Abb. Verbless clauses may follow as soon as, once, when(ever), while.
eg. When in difficuty, consult the textbook.
 with until and its variant till a dynamic verb in the main cl. often has to be accompanied by
a negative.
* He started to read until he was 10 years old.
He didn’t start to read until he was 10.
In the neg. S, not (…) until means the same as not(…) before.
 Infinitival clauses of “outcome” (result) may be placed among temporal clauses
eg. He rushed to the door, only to discover that it was locked and barred.
She grew up to be a successful actress.
These clauses, like all adverbial infinitival clauses have no subject and they always
follow the rest of the main clause.
Eg. When I awoke one morning, I found the girl in tears.
Sometimes time clauses are introduced by nouns with or without a connecting word
(that or sometimes when).
Eg. The moment he learned the truth , he resigned.
I saw them the day I left for Europe.
‘When’ also means “every time that” and overlaps with “whenever”.
Eg. When (whenever) I read too long, I get a headache.

Clauses of place

They are introduced by “where”or “wherever”.

Eg. They went wherever they could find work.
Where the fire had been, we saw nothing but blackened ruins.
Abbreviated clauses occur with both the subordinators.
Eg. Where(ever) known, such facts have been reported.
Where(ever) possible, the parts of the car should be tested.

Clauses of concession

They are introduced by “although” or its more colloquial variant “though” which is a conjunct
of concession as well as a conjunction of concession
eg. No goals were scored, though it was an exciting game.
While or whereas are sometimes used to point a contrast between comparable things.
Eg. The U.S. has immense mineral wealth, while/whereas Br. has comparatively little.
Even if and even though are also concessive in meaning:
eg. He borrowed my towel even though I told him not to.
Even if you dislike ancient monuments, this castle is worth a visit.
Conditional IF is, in meaning, the opposite of “although” implying a positive rather
than a neg. connection between the two clauses; yet occasionally if is used concessively (=even
if).
eg. If he’s poor, at least he’s honest.
Abbreviated clauses of concession are common of all three structural types (-ing, -ed, and
verbless): though a young man, even if, still operating; even though given every attention.
Eg. Though well over eighty, he can walk a mile faster than I can.
Concessive clauses sometimes have unusual syntactic orderings. The subordinators as,
though, that occur in non-initial position after the subject complement in:
eg. Asleep as/that I was, I continued working.
Miraculous though their survival seemed, it was nothing to what lay ahead.
Even though their survival seemed miraculous.
“That “ and “as” in this position can also have the non-concessive meaning of cause or
circumstance
eg. Michael, fool as/that he was, completely ruined the dinner (since he was a fool, being a
fool).
The whole predication may be placed in front of the conjunction: object as you may,
fail though I did; change your mind as you will

Alternative conditional - concessive clauses

The overlap between condition and concession, already noted with “even if” or “even though”
is particularly marked in 2 classes of adverbial clauses that we may call alternative cond-
concessive and universal conditional-concessive.
 The correlative sequence “whether …or” may be called alternative conditional in that
logically it combines the conditional meaning of “if” with the disjunctive meaning of “either…
or”. This is a means of coordinating 2 subordinate clauses:
eg. Whether they beat us or we beat them, the result will be the same.
The concessive element of meaning comes in secondarily through the implication that
if the same thing takes place in 2 contrasting conditions, there must be smth. surprising about at
least one of them.

UNIVERSAL CONDITIONAL AND CONCESSIVE CLAUSES

While the alternative conditional- concessive cl. gives a choice between 2 possible conditions,
the universal conditional-concessive c., introduced by one of the wh-compound words
whatever, whaever indicates a free choice from any number of conditions.
Compare:
She looks pretty whether she wears blue or green. (2 alternatives)
She looks pretty whatever she wears. (any number of alternatives)
The concessive implication is that she would look pretty even if she wore overalls or a
spacesuit. These clauses share with other wh-clauses the initial placement of the wh-element
and the consequent shift from normal word order.
Eg. Good night America, wherever you are.
However much advice you give him, he does exactly what he wants.
Whatever your opinions are, you are welcome to join our society.
The longer construction “no matter wh’ -and ‘it doesn’t matter wh’- is also a universal
conditional - concessive clause introducer
It doesn’t matter how hard I try,
No matter, I can never catch up with him.
 In restricted circumstances i.e. with an abstract N Ph. Subj. the verb BE can be omitted
from a universal conditional-concessive clause:
Whatever your problems, they can’t be worse than mine.
 There are absolute universal conditional-concessive constructions: come what may, be that
as it may, do what you will. The initial verbs may be considered optative subjunctive
(Suffice it ot say…) to be associated with a similar alternative conditional-concessive
construction involving the use of subj. BE :
Be he friend or enemy, the law regards him as a criminal.
In informal conversation, concession is most often expressed by BUT:
He’s small, but he’s strong.
Contrasting ideas are often expressed as separate sentences with parenthetic “though”
at the end :
He’s small. He’s strong, though.
Clauses of concession are also introduced by despite (the fact that), in spite of,
notwithstanding, regardless of…
Concession of a generalized sort, is expressed by “no matter how/where/when” or with
those - ever words that correspond to “no matter” in meaning.
Eg. No matter how hot the weather is /may be he doesn’t complain.
Wherever you go/may go you won’t find a friendlier town.
In pure suppositions the may constr. is preferred

Overlap of condition and concession

Whereas conditional clauses state the dependence of one circumstance or set of circumstances
on one another.
Eg. If you beat her kindly, she’ll do anything for you.
Concess. clauses imply a contrast bet. two circumstances i.e. in the light of the circumstances
in the depend cl, that in the main cl. is surprising
eg. Although he hadn’t eaten for days, he looked strong.
The overlap bet. Cond. & concess. Clauses comes with even if wh. expresses both dependence
of another circumstance and the surprising nature of this dependence
Both cond.& concessive clauses tend to assume initial position in the superordinate clause.
Even if he went down on his knees, I wouldn’t forgive him.
Sometimes it functions as disjunct of reason.
Are you going to the post office? Because I have some letters to send.
They’ve lit a fire because I can see the smoke rising.
As and since are also conjunctions of time. This dual function can give rise to ambiguity:
As he designed the engine, he must have realised its great capabilities. (–it has two readings:
because and while)
There are no abbreviated clauses of reason
*Because a man of ingenuity,
but non-finite and verbless can be used equivalently
Being a man of ingenuity, he had soon repaired the machine.

Clauses of circumstances

Semantically half way between the conditional clauses and clauses of reason are clauses of
circumstance, which express what one might call a ‘closed condition’ in opposition to either
the ‘open’ or the ‘hypothetical’ condition expressed by if clauses. That is, they express a
condition which is assumed to be fulfilled or they express a relation between a premise in the
subordinate and the conditional (in the main).
Because, since, as can convey this meaning as well as that of cause/reason. In addition, there is
a special circumstantional compound conjunction seeing (that):
Seeing that the weather has improved, we shall be able to enjoy our game.
Non-finite and verbless clauses often have, by implication, this meaning.
The weather having improved, we enjoyed the remainder of the game.
The conjunction now (that) combines circumstantial with temporal meaning.

Clauses of purpose are more often infinitival than finite

To improve the garden, we shall plant tulips.
I left early to catch the train.
Like most adverbial infinitival clauses, they have no subject. More explicit indicators of
purpose are the combinations in order to and so as to:
Students should take notes so as to make revision easier.
In formal style they can be introduced by the compound subordinators in order that or so that
or simply that.
The decision was made in order that/so that/that peace should prevail.
In the purpose clauses which have a putative meaning (-do not carry any sense of obligation but
assumes that the plan will be carried out). The modal auxiliaries should and may/might are
used. Negative purpose is expressed by the rather archaic and very formal conjunction lest or
the informal in case.
Lest/in case the wall should collapse, they evacuated the building.
Both conjunctions have the meaning for fear that or in order that…not
Clauses of result overlap with those of purpose both in meaning and in form. The main
difference is that result clauses are factual rather than putative, hence they may contain an
ordinary verb form without a modal auxiliary.
We planted hundreds of tulips, so that by August the garden had improved.
So that serves to express result as well as purpose. Result clauses introduced by it can only
appear in final position.
Whereas purpose clauses are adjuncts, result clauses are disjuncts; thus only the former can
form the focus of a dependent sentence.
It was to/so that we might reach the chalet by nightfall that we travelled all day
*It was so that we reached safely by nightfall that ….
Informally, the that of so that is omitted.
I took no notice of him so he flew into a rage.

Clauses of manner

Are introduced by as or in substandard English by how

She cooks a turkey exactly as my mother did. (-in the way my mother did)
As also introduces a manner clause which involves comparison
They haunted him as a tiger chases its prey. (-in a manner similar to)
As if and as though introduce adverbial clauses indicating comparison with some hypothetical
circumstance
He treats me as if/as though I’m /were a stranger.
Both past and present forms imply the unreality of what is expressed in the subordinate clause
id. it is assumed from both sentences that “I am not a stranger”. In other cases as if or as
though with the present expresses factual meaning.
He looks as if he’s sick: fetch the doctor.
Like is sometimes used as subordinator in manner clauses or in as if clauses of comparison.
It’s just like I imagined.
He talks to me like I was his dog.
But this usage is considered substandard.
Clauses of comparison sometimes show subject-operator inversion.
The present owner is a keen art collector, as were several of his ancestors.

COMMENT CLAUSES

may be classified as adjuncts or conjuncts. They may vary in form

-like a main clause: At that time I believe he was true to me.
-like an adverbial clause: I'm a quiet person as you know.
-like a nominal relative claus: What's more, we lost all our hopes.
-to infinitive clause: I'm not sure what to do, to be honest.
- -ing clause: I doubt, speaking as a teacher,whether TV is the right thing.
Further examples: I know, you know, I see, I suppose, I'm afraid, remember, God knows, as
you say, as I generally assumed, that annoys me, to be fair, to put it bluntly, generally
speaking, putting it mildly, speaking of the ... ord.(unofficially, privately)