ADVERB CLAUSES LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE

[Pages:2]ADV ERB CLAU SES

LEVEL: I NT ERMEDIAT E

Time clauses They are int roduced by subordinat ing conj unct ions like " af t er, as soon as, as, bef ore, since, unt il/ t ill, when, while" . They are used t o say when somet hing happens.

Uses: - " When" usually means " at t he t ime" : He was nine when his f at her died. - " When, as, while" can be used f or t wo event s happening at t he same t ime, wit h t he meaning " during t he t ime" : The eart hquake occurred when/ as/ while t hey were sleeping. - " As soon as" means " immediat ely af t er" : As soon as Laura had lef t t he house, it st art ed t o rain. - " Bef ore" means " earlier t han" and " af t er" means " lat er t han" : He lef t before I could explain anyt hing. We' re going t o t idy up after everyone is gone. - " Unt il/ t ill" mean " up t o a cert ain t ime" : I won' t leave until/ till I have f inished everyt hing. - " Since" means " f rom a part icular t ime in t he past unt il a lat er t ime, or unt il now" : I haven't played rugby since I lef t universit y.

Word order: t ime clauses can have an init ial or f inal posit ion (i. e. bef ore or af t er t he main clause):

1) subordinat ing conj unct ion + subj ect + verb ..., / subj ect + main verb ...: Before I could explain anyt hing, he lef t . 2) subj ect + main verb .../ subordinat ing conj unct ion + subj ect + verb ...: He lef t before I could explain anyt hing.

Tenses and aspects (simple, perfect, continuous) used: 1) Af t er t ime subordinat ing conj unct ions we use present t enses t o ref er t o t he f ut ure. In t he main clause we t ypically use a f ut ure or imperat ive f orm: When you are in t own, visit me. As soon as we get t he t icket s, we' ll send t hem t o you.

2) Af t er t ime subordinat ing conj unct ions we use past t enses t o ref er t o t he past : When I went out , it was raining. As soon as she got out of bed, t he t elephone st opped ringing.

The past t ense we use depends on t he inf ormat ion cont ained in t he conj unct ion: - " Af t er" and " bef ore" cont ain precise inf ormat ion about t he sequence of event s (what happened f irst and what af t erwards), so we don' t need t o use past perf ect f or t he act ion t hat happened f irst . We can use past simple in bot h clauses: She at e after I lef t (past simple). She at e after I had lef t (past perf ect in t he subordinat e " af t er" clause). She lef t before I t elephoned (past simple). She had lef t before I t elephoned (past perf ect in t he main clause). - " When" doesn' t indicat e t he order in which t hings happened so we of t en need t o use t he past perf ect t o show t hat somet hing happened bef ore somet hing else: When she called, he had eat en lunch.

? CARMEN L UI SA P?REZ A MARO

ADV ERB CLAU SES

LEVEL: I NT ERMEDIAT E

3) " While, as" and somet imes " when" are used t o describe somet hing wit h durat ion t hat happened at t he same t ime as somet hing else. Theref ore, t hey are f ollowed by cont inuous t enses:

I saw Pet er while/ as/ when I was get t ing of f t he bus. (past cont inuous). I hope you' ll t hink of me f or a moment while/ as/ when I' m t aking my driving t est . (present cont inuous)

4) " As" and " when" can also be f ollowed by simple t enses: He get s more at t ract ive as he get s older. (present simple) She at t ended an art school when she was f ourt een. (past simple)

5) " As soon as" and " t ill/ unt il" are f ollowed by simple or perf ect t enses: As soon as we get t he t icket s, we' ll send t hem t o you. (present simple) As soon as she got out of bed, t he t elephone st opped ringing. (past simple) As soon as I had writ t en all my e-mails, I did some gardening. (past perf ect ) I won' t discuss anyt hing till/ until I' ve spoken t o my wif e. (present perf ect ) Hold t hese f or me till/ until I ask f or t hem. (present simple)

6) " Since" is f ollowed by a perf ect or a simple t ense, depending on t he meaning: I' ve known her since we were at school t oget her. (past simple: we aren' t at school) I' ve known her since I' ve lived in t his st reet . (present perf ect : I live in t his st reet ) In t he main clause we usually use a perf ect t ense: I have played t ennis since I was t en. (present perf ect ) We had been good f riends since we were at universit y. (past perf ect ) When we use " since" t o say how long ago somet hing happened, we use a simple t ense in t he main clause: It ' s t hree mont hs since you were here last . (present simple) It was ages since we last played t ennis. (past simple)

* Not ice: some of t he t ime conj unct ions (af t er, bef ore, since, unt il, t ill) are also prepositions which indicat e t ime. When we use t hem as preposit ions, t hey are f ollowed by nouns, obj ect pronouns, or verbs in t he ?ing f orm:

He came in af t er midnight . Af t er complet ing t he book, I sent it t o Madrid f or publicat ion. He arrived home bef ore me. Bef ore leaving he said good-bye t o each of t hem. We've been wait ing here since t wo o'clock. She' s been quit e dif f erent since coming back f rom America. I worked unt il/ t ill 4 p.m.

? CARMEN L UI SA P?REZ A MARO

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