Adverbial clauses: time, place, cause, purpose

Adverbial clauses of time.

• Her mother died when she was eight years old
• … we must strike while the iron is hot.
• I shall hope to visit you whenever I happen to be in London.
• There was still a gleam of sunset in the west as he strolled along.
• Jan waved till the taxi disappeared round the bend in the road.
• After this, they conversed on different subjects until they arrived at their journey’s end.
• But as soon as I saw Susan I stopped noticing my surroundings.
• You can stay here as long as you want.

An adverbial clause of time shows the

time of the action expressed in the

principal clause. Adverbial clauses of

time are introduced by the following

conjunctions: when, while, whenever (когда бы ни), as, till, until, as soon as, as long as, since, after, before, now then (теперь, когда)

• And people love their homes, even when things are tough.
• The next thing to discover is when the point was last seen without that smear
• Nothing told her when the eyes of her friend were for an instant fixed upon her, when the mind of her friend for a moment wondered at the strange, new look in her face.
• There were moments when I left all the misery of my friendliness, all the

peril of my dreadful responsibility.

adverbial clauses of time

predicative clause

object clause

attributive relative clause

Be careful with

“When”

Adverbial clauses of time introduced by the subordinating conjunction while should not be confused with independent clauses introduced by the coordinating conjunction while.

 

• There was a pause while he raised his cup and

drank some tea.

• His face was disturbed and troubled, while his

clothes were disarranged and untidy.

Independent clause

adverbial clauses of time