Notional grammars define adverb clauses as subordinate or dependent clauses that consist of a subordinating conjunction followed by a clause and that perform adverbial grammatical functions. A clause is a grammatical structure that consists of a subject and a predicate. A dependent or subordinate clause is a clause that cannot function independently as a complete sentence but that must appear with another independent or main clause.
In grammar, an adjunct adverbial is a word, phrase, or clause that modifies or describes an entire clause by providing additional information about time, place, manner, condition, purpose, reason, result, and concession. Adverb clauses function only as adjunct adverbials in English. Examples of adverb clauses as adjunct adverbials include the following:
- After the chores are done, we will eat ice cream.
- So that he would not ruin the carpet, he took off his shoes.
- Although you gave your best effort, you did not win the match.
- She passed the course because she worked hard.
- You will be late for work unless you hurry.
- He could buy some new clothes if he made the effort to save some money.
References
Brinton, Laurel J. & Donna M. Brinton. 2010. The linguistic structure of Modern English, 2nd edn. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Hopper, Paul J. 1999. A short course in grammar. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Huddleston, Rodney. 1984. Introduction to the grammar of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
