Adverbial clauses
Adverbial clauses
A wide variety of different conjunctions are used to introduce adverbial clauses. Common conjunctions used to introduce adverbial clauses are given below.
Adverbial clauses of time: when, after, before, as soon as
- He had left before I arrived.
- He fell in love with a French girl when he was at university.
- As soon as he received the telegram, he left for his native place.
Adverbial clauses of reason: because, as, since
- She was upset because she had lost her job.
- As he was in a bad mood, I decided not to disturb him.
- Since he hasn’t paid the dues, we will not renew his subscription.
Adverbial clauses of purpose: so that, in order that
- I started early so that I would not get stuck in the traffic.
Adverbial clauses of contrast: although, whereas
- Although he works three jobs in a day, he doesn’t earn enough to support his family.
- Alice is sociable whereas her younger sister is quite reserved.
Adverbial clause of comparison: as if, as though
- He brought her up as if / as though she was his own child.
Adverbial clause of condition: if, provided (that), so long as, in case
- If we miss the last bus, we will have to walk home.
- If you find my keys, please leave it on my table.
- I will lend you some money provided that you pay me back by Sunday.
- You can go out to play provided that you finish your homework first.
- You can borrow my car so long as you return it before 10 pm. (OR You can borrow my car provided that you return it before 10 pm.)