An adverbial clause modifies the verb of a main clause, functioning like an adverb in a sentence. It often begins with a subordinate conjunction and shows the time or reason for the verb. Adverbial clauses cannot stand alone and modify the main clause to provide more information.
An adverbial clause is an English grammatical construction in which a subordinate clause in a sentence modifies the verb of a main clause. In this way, the clause plays essentially the same role as an adverb in a sentence. In most cases, these clauses begin with a subordinate conjunction and often show the time or reason the verb occurs. As with subordinate clauses, an adverbial clause includes a noun and a verb but cannot stand alone in a sentence as the main clause can.
Sentence structure in the English language is often distinguished by different groups of words that serve a purpose for the overall meaning of the sentence. A clause in a sentence contains a noun and a verb but may or may not be able to stand on its own. In some cases, these clauses, just like a single word, may serve as a part of speech in the sentence. One such working clause is an adverb clause, which behaves in the same way as an adverb in a sentence.
In many cases, an adverbial clause is used to modify the main verb in terms of explaining when the action takes place. For example, imagine the sentence: “After taking the kids to school, we went home and rested.” With this sentence, “After we took the children to school” serves as an adverb, as it explains when the subjects of the sentence have returned home and rested.
Another common use of an adverbial clause is to show the cause, or, in other words, to explain why the main verb in the sentence is taking place. For such an example, imagine the sentence: “Since I wasn’t making enough money, I decided to quit my job.” In this case, the adverbial clause at the beginning of the sentence explains why the subject decided to quit their job, creating cause and effect in the sentence.
It is important to note in both examples, as in all adverbial clauses, that the subordinate clauses cannot stand alone and still make sense as a clause. This distinguishes them from the main clauses. Both of the main clauses in the examples, “We came home and rested” and “I decided to quit my job,” could stand alone as sentences and make perfect sense. The adverbial clauses are therefore the subordinate clauses, modifying the main clauses and providing a little more information to complete the thoughts.
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