Adverbial Clause

What's a Clause, Again?

Before going further into adverbial clauses, here's a general reminder about clauses. These are the main points that will help you understand adverbial clauses.

• A clause is a meaningful group of words made up of a subject and a predicate.
• Clauses can be independent or dependent.
• An independent clause (also called a main clause) is a clause that can exist alone as a full sentence.
• A dependent clause (also called a subordinate clause) is a clause that can't exist on its own as a full sentence.

Now you can press forward with adverbial clauses!

Adverbial Clause Definition

Fig. 1 - An adverbial clause is a dependent clause that acts as an adverb.

All of these different clause types are starting to get confusing. To clarify before getting started, here's the definition of an adverbial clause.

You might come across both the terms adverbial clause and adverb clause. Just know that they mean the same thing! As a reminder, here's the definition of an adverb.

An adverb clause can replace a single adverb in a sentence. Because it's a dependent clause, an adverbial clause can't exist on its own; it has to be attached to an independent clause.

How is this different from an adverbial phrase?

First it was adverbs and adverbial phrases, and now adverbial clauses? Why are the terms so similar? The differences can be confusing but are laid out here; you can refer back to this if you get confused about the definitions.

• An adverbial phrase replaces a single adverb but does not have a subject and a predicateWe drove to the coffee shop.In this example, to the coffee shop doesn't have a subject and a predicate. You can easily tell because it doesn't have a verb. That means that this is an adverbial phrase, not an adverbial clause.

  This verb trick is an easy way to tell phrases from clauses, but it's not perfect. There are a few exceptions discussed below.

• An adverbial clause replaces a single adverb but does have a subject and a predicateWe drove where the coffee shop is located.Where the coffee shop is located has a subject and a predicate. You can quickly tell because it has a verb phrase, is located. It almost looks like a mini-sentence. That means that this is an adverbial clause.

Purpose of an Adverbial Clause

An adverbial clause can sometimes add more information than a regular adverb can. It can give information about time, place, manner, reason, condition, and more.

Fig. 2 - "I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person," Harriet Tubman.

Types of Adverbial Clauses, with Examples

There are nine major types of adverbial clauses. Here's a list of the types of adverbial clauses, plus examples to demonstrate each type.

Time

An adverb clause of time tells you when something happens.

These adverb clauses start with words like when, before, after, as soon as, since, whenever, while, and until. Here are some examples:

Place

An adverb clause of place tells you where something happens.

These adverb clauses start with words like where and wherever.

Manner

An adverb clause of manner tells you how something happens.

These adverb clauses start with words like as if, like, as though, and so ... that.

Condition

An adverb clause of condition tells you what condition needs to be met for something to happen. In other words, something will happen if something else happens first.

Adverb clauses of condition start with words like if, as long as, whether, and unless.

Purpose

An adverb clause of purpose tells you the goal of an action.

Adverb clauses of purpose start with words like so, so that, in order for, and that.

Reason

An adverb clause of reason tells you why something happens.

Adverb clauses of reason start with words like because, since, that, and as.

Comparison

An adverb clause of comparison compares and contrasts itself with the clause next to it.

Adverb clauses of comparison start with words like as, than, and like.

Concession

An adverb clause of concession admits something.

Adverb clauses of concession start with words like although, even though, while, despite, though, and in spite of.

Result

An adverb clause of result tells you what happened as a result of the clause next to it.

Adverb clauses of result start with words like such that and so ... that.

Adverbial Clause Identification

Now you've learned the types of adverbial clauses, but how would you identify an adverbial clause in the wild?

To identify an adverbial clause, ask yourself which word is receiving more information from the clause. If the word is a verb, adjective, or adverb, it's an adverbial clause.

You can identify the different types of adverbial clauses by asking yourself what kind of question the clause answers. Here are some examples:

• Time: When does something happen?
• Place: Where does something happen?
• Manner: How does something happen?
• Condition: This is true if what?
• Purpose: What's the goal of this?
• Reason: Why does something happen?
• Comparison: How is this similar/different from something else?
• Concession: What is being admitted?
• Result: What is the outcome?

Try this for yourself: the next time you read something, try and find all of the adverbial clauses, and figure out what kind of questions the clauses are answering.

¹ Sarah Hopkins Bradford, Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman, 1869.