Changing Adverb Clauses to Phrases
Now that you are comfortable with adverb clauses and can survive quite well with them, I am going to take them from you. Don't worry. It will make you a stronger writer. Like most languages, English can say a lot with few words. Writers around the world try to be as clear and efficient as they can in order to make their writing enjoyable for their readers. This is a good reason to learn how to reduce an adverb clause to a phrase. Remember, a clause is a combination of a subject and verb; a phrase has no subject or main verb.
Let's take a look at sentence (1).
1. After I saw the horror movie, I felt sick.
This is a very typical complex sentence, right? There is the adverb clause { After I saw the horror movie} and the independent clause {I felt sick}. You also remember that the adverb clause is a dependent clause. But are there any words in the adverb clause we can leave out (omit)? Well, let's take a look. What is the subject of the adverb clause? Correct. It is {I}. What is the subject of the independent clause? Yes. It's {I}. Therefore, we know we have the same subject in both clauses. This is very important.
You can only reduce an adverb clause to a phrase if it has the same subject as the independent clause!!!
Now let's take out the {I} from the adverb clause. Hmmm. That leaves us with {After saw the horror movie, I felt sick.} That doesn't sound right. The problem is you still have a main verb {saw} in the old adverb clause, but without a subject. This verb is a "finite" verb. You might remember that if you watched the video on verbs. Finite means the verb has tense. Well, we can't have tense here because no one is doing an action. Therefore, we are going to change it to a non-finite verb (one without tense). We will do this by changing {saw} to {seeing}, which will give us sentence (2).
2. After seeing the horror movie, I felt sick.
Sometimes we have an adverb clause with a passive verb. How do we change that to a phrase? I knew you would ask that. Well, you follow the same idea as in (2), but the non-finite verb will have a present participle before the past participle. Look at sentence (3).
3. After Sam was told to clean his room, he started crying.
In this case {Sam} and {he} are the same subject, so we can reduce the adverb clause to a phrase. That will give us After was told to clean his room. This won't work, right? Remember, we no longer have a subject in the adverb clause. We also know that passive verbs include some form of the verb {to be}or {to get} plus a past participle. Therefore, we won't change {told} since it already has no tense. We will change {was} to a non-finite verb. Look at (4).
4. After being told to clean his room, Sam started crying.
Try it yourself. Change sentences (5) and (6) and check your answers with the completed sentences at the bottom of the page.
5. While Mary was reading her book, she heard a loud sound in the attic.
6. After Omar wrote his essay, he felt relieved.
Answers
5. While reading her book, Mary heard a loud sound in the attic.
6. After writing his essay, Omar felt relieved.
Let's take a look at sentence (1).
1. After I saw the horror movie, I felt sick.
This is a very typical complex sentence, right? There is the adverb clause { After I saw the horror movie} and the independent clause {I felt sick}. You also remember that the adverb clause is a dependent clause. But are there any words in the adverb clause we can leave out (omit)? Well, let's take a look. What is the subject of the adverb clause? Correct. It is {I}. What is the subject of the independent clause? Yes. It's {I}. Therefore, we know we have the same subject in both clauses. This is very important.
You can only reduce an adverb clause to a phrase if it has the same subject as the independent clause!!!
Now let's take out the {I} from the adverb clause. Hmmm. That leaves us with {After saw the horror movie, I felt sick.} That doesn't sound right. The problem is you still have a main verb {saw} in the old adverb clause, but without a subject. This verb is a "finite" verb. You might remember that if you watched the video on verbs. Finite means the verb has tense. Well, we can't have tense here because no one is doing an action. Therefore, we are going to change it to a non-finite verb (one without tense). We will do this by changing {saw} to {seeing}, which will give us sentence (2).
2. After seeing the horror movie, I felt sick.
Sometimes we have an adverb clause with a passive verb. How do we change that to a phrase? I knew you would ask that. Well, you follow the same idea as in (2), but the non-finite verb will have a present participle before the past participle. Look at sentence (3).
3. After Sam was told to clean his room, he started crying.
In this case {Sam} and {he} are the same subject, so we can reduce the adverb clause to a phrase. That will give us After was told to clean his room. This won't work, right? Remember, we no longer have a subject in the adverb clause. We also know that passive verbs include some form of the verb {to be}or {to get} plus a past participle. Therefore, we won't change {told} since it already has no tense. We will change {was} to a non-finite verb. Look at (4).
4. After being told to clean his room, Sam started crying.
Try it yourself. Change sentences (5) and (6) and check your answers with the completed sentences at the bottom of the page.
5. While Mary was reading her book, she heard a loud sound in the attic.
6. After Omar wrote his essay, he felt relieved.
Answers
5. While reading her book, Mary heard a loud sound in the attic.
6. After writing his essay, Omar felt relieved.
