When I get home, I have to feed the cats!
Adverb Clauses
Adverb clauses are a large part of English sentence structure. They can refer to time, contrasts, reason, and condition. As with all clauses they have a subject and verb, and you can reduce them to adverb phrases. The heading above is an example of a time clause. When I get home, I have to feed the cats. This is a basic complex sentence, which means the sentence has a dependent clause and an independent clause. All adverb clauses are dependent clauses. When they come first in a sentence, you put a comma after them. When they are last in a sentence, you don't have to use a comma before them. For example, in the sentence above let's put the adverb clause second: I have to feed the cats when I get home. See, there is no need to place a comma before the dependent clause.
Now we will look at adverb clauses that relate to contrast. In sentence (1) below we have the adverb clause first in the sentence.
1. Even though I was tired, I stayed up late and watched a horror movie.
Notice that there is a comma after tired. This is because the adverb(dependent) clause comes first in the sentence. Also, the contrastive adverb [even though] tells us that there will be information after the dependent clause that will contrast (or be different from) the information in the dependent clause. In this sentence the person was tired but id not go to sleep. Instead the person watched a movie.
1. Even though I was tired, I stayed up late and watched a horror movie.
Notice that there is a comma after tired. This is because the adverb(dependent) clause comes first in the sentence. Also, the contrastive adverb [even though] tells us that there will be information after the dependent clause that will contrast (or be different from) the information in the dependent clause. In this sentence the person was tired but id not go to sleep. Instead the person watched a movie.
The next type of adverb clause shows the reason for something. Look at sentence (2). Notice that the dependent clause is first.
2. Because it was very cold outside, I wore my long wool coat.
We can, of course, put the dependent clause second and have sentence (3).
3. I wore my long wool coat because it was very cold outside.
The adverb [because] is very common, but there are others that are used to show reason, such as since, due to the fact that. Look at sentence (4) in which due to the fact that is used.
4. Due to the fact that there was heavy traffic, many people were late.
2. Because it was very cold outside, I wore my long wool coat.
We can, of course, put the dependent clause second and have sentence (3).
3. I wore my long wool coat because it was very cold outside.
The adverb [because] is very common, but there are others that are used to show reason, such as since, due to the fact that. Look at sentence (4) in which due to the fact that is used.
4. Due to the fact that there was heavy traffic, many people were late.
The last type of adverb clause we will look at here shows condition. You will see these clauses again when you are studying conditional sentences. Adverb clauses showing condition often start with if, only if, even if, whether, or in case. It is also possible to see the start with had, or were. Look at sentences (5, 6, 7, 8, 9).
5. If it rains tonight, we will not go to the movies.
6. Only if my friend Tom comes to the party, will I go.
7. Even if the show is cancelled, the actors will still receive a paycheck.
8. Whether it snows or not, the meeting will not be postponed.
9. In case there is a fire, please call 911 for help.
Now let's look at a strange type of condition. Sentences (10) and (11) have the same meaning.
10. If I had a car, I could drive to the store.
11. Had I a car, I could drive to the store.
Do you see what happened? In sentence (11) [if] is taken out and [had] is moved to the front. This is called inversion. You don't have to memorize this or understand it completely. But you should be able to recognize this type of sentence and understand its meaning. Let's look at two more examples below.
12. If the workers were finished building the house, the family could move into it.
13. Were the workers finished building the house, the family could move into it.
You can see that we did the same process with sentences (12) and (13). We took out [if] and moved [were] to the front. The meaning is still the same. Sentences (11) and (13) are considered very formal, and you do not usually here them in spoken English.
5. If it rains tonight, we will not go to the movies.
6. Only if my friend Tom comes to the party, will I go.
7. Even if the show is cancelled, the actors will still receive a paycheck.
8. Whether it snows or not, the meeting will not be postponed.
9. In case there is a fire, please call 911 for help.
Now let's look at a strange type of condition. Sentences (10) and (11) have the same meaning.
10. If I had a car, I could drive to the store.
11. Had I a car, I could drive to the store.
Do you see what happened? In sentence (11) [if] is taken out and [had] is moved to the front. This is called inversion. You don't have to memorize this or understand it completely. But you should be able to recognize this type of sentence and understand its meaning. Let's look at two more examples below.
12. If the workers were finished building the house, the family could move into it.
13. Were the workers finished building the house, the family could move into it.
You can see that we did the same process with sentences (12) and (13). We took out [if] and moved [were] to the front. The meaning is still the same. Sentences (11) and (13) are considered very formal, and you do not usually here them in spoken English.
