American English: Adverb Clauses

Expressing conditions in adverb clauses: if-clauses

It's time for us to get to know If. If is just two letters, an i and an f. But If is very powerful. If live in your imagination.

You know how people like to talk about hypothetical situations? That means possibilities we invent in our imaginations. For instance... let me imagine something you might do. I know... maybe you will click on one of the links in this page. All right? That's the situation... the condition. That's I'm imagining.

Well, what would be the result? That's where if comes in.

If you click on one of the links in this page, you'll stop reading.

And of course,

If you don't click on one of the links in this page, you'll keep reading.

If gives a condition that will produce a certain result... all hypothetical, of course.

Usually it's good idea to stay away from using future verb forms in Adverb Clauses.

And I'll talk to you about other words like whether and unless.

Showing direct contrast: while and whereas

Now my favorite... While has two meanings. OK?

The first meaning tells you about a time relationship:

While my husband and I were camping in the wilderness, a bear got into our tent.

All right, so in that sentence, while means during the time that.

And now for the second meaning. Well. While can contrast ideas, can show that something is the opposite of something else:

My husband likes to go camping in the wilderness for vacation, while I prefer to visit big cities such as London.

And, you know, you could also use whereas instead of while; it means the same thing, but whereas is pretty uncommon. You'll run into it in reading more often than speaking, and even then not too often.

My husband likes to be in the wilderness, whereas I like to visit big cities.

Notice that these clauses use a comma even when the Adverb Clause comes second in the sentence.

Expressing contrast (unexpected result): Using even though

I was here all the time even though you coldn't see me.

Life is full of suprises, isn't it? We just never know what's going to happen when we get up in the morning. Ah, yes... surprises, unexpected things. That's what Even Though express.

Let's say Oscar had a ticket to a championship soccer game. What is the expected result?

Because Oscar had a ticket, he went to the game.

But, sometimes things don't work out as we expect them to. That's where Even Though come in.

Even though you had a ticket, you did NOT go to the game.

What? It was a championship game. It was sold out! You had a ticket, but you didn't go? That's a surprising, unexpected result.

Even Though is a lot of fun to use. Well, at least I think so, but I like surprises.

Using adverb clauses to show cause and effect

You've been using because ever since you started using English. You know, it's one of those words everybody needs right from the beginning because people are always talking about what causes what.

Tarik is happy because his family is here.

There you go. But there are a couple of other useful ways to tell someone what causes a result.

Now that Olga has a job, she can pay her rent.

That means because Olga has a job now. It implies that Olga didn't have a job a little while ago.

And how about this one?

Since Al doesn't have a car, he has to depend on his friends to drive him places.

Well, that means because Al doesn't have a car.

And just a little quick reminder, don't forget that since can aslo show time relationships:

I've know Maria since I was a child.

You know, lots of English words have more than one meaning, but you already know that.

Adverb Clauses

Adverb Clauses

Lot of times we like to show the relashionships between ideas, and do it in the same sentence.

Well, here are three simple sentences:

Tom sat down.
He turned on the light.
He wanted to read.

Now, we can guess the relationships between those ideas, but we can communucate a whole lot more clearly if we can actually say what the relationships are:

After Tom sat down, he turned on the light because he wanted to read.

Oh, it's important to be able to communicate the relashionship of one idea to another.

Do you remember Time Clause? Her full name is Adverb Clause of Time. Adverb Clause of Time is the one who begins with words like when, while, or after, and before. The following sentence sound familiar:

When the phone rang, the baby woke up.

But, you know, there are other kinds of Adverb Clauses... clauses that begin with words like because, or even though, if; words that show cause and effect, or maybe contrast ideas, or express conditions.

Bur for starters, I think I'd like to do a little refresher on form. Adverb Clauses are flexible. Adverb Clauses move around. Adverb Clauses can come at the beginning of a sentence or at the end, usually without much difference.

When adjective clauses come first, you need to stick in a comma.
But you don't need a comma when adjective clauses come after the main clause.

Adverb Clause of Time

Time Clauses

A clause is a structure that has a subject and a verb. Time Clause begins with a word like when followed by a subject and a verb. For example, When the phone rang is an Adverb Clause. The Time Clause full name is Adverb Clause of Time.

Just connect the Adverb Clause with a simple sentence, and we'are in business!

When the phone rang, I answered it.
When the phone rang, the baby woke up.

Time Clause show time relationships. Time Clause let people know that something happened before something else, or at the same time, or after something else. Things like that.

I say things like...

I brushed my teeth before I went to bed.
After I went to bed, I turned out the light.

Here are some of the words Time Clause use to introduce itself:

after	before	when
while	as	until
since	as soon as	by the time

American English

Fecha

Pages

Expressing conditions in adverb clauses: if-clauses

Showing direct contrast: while and whereas

Expressing contrast (unexpected result): Using even though

Using adverb clauses to show cause and effect

Adverb Clauses

Adverb Clause of Time