ABVERBIAL CLAUSES OF TIME & PLACE
I-LANGUAGE FOCUS
1.1. Time clause:
A time clause is introduced by one of the subordinators in the following chart. A
time clause can come before or after an independent clause.
Table 1.1. Time Subordinators
| when: a specific time |
When people had to hunt for food, they moved from place to place. |
| whenever: at any time |
Whenever food became scarce in one area, they moved to another area. |
| while: at the same time |
The men hunted game while the women gathered plants. |
| as soon as: soon after |
Eating habits changed as soon as people stopped moving from place to place in search of food. |
| after: later |
After people learned how to grow their own food, they settled in villages. |
| since: from that time |
Since the United States changed from an agricultural to an industrial society, eating habits there have changed. |
| as: at the same time |
People in the United States started eating more processed convenience foods as their lives became busier. |
| before: earlier | Before people in the United States moved to cities, they grew most of their own food. |
| until: up to the time |
Women had time to cook meals “from scratch” until they went to work in factories and offices. |
1.2. Place clause:
An adverb place clause tells where the action described by the main verb took place.
The subordinators wherever, everywhere, and anywhere are similar in meaning and are
interchangeable. You can begin a sentence with wherever, everywhere, and anywhere
clauses, but usually not with a where clause. (Expressions such as the following are
exceptions: Where there is lightning, there is thunder. Where there is smoke, there is
fire.)
Table 1.2. Place Subordinators
| where: a specific place |
Most people shop where they get the lowest prices. |
| wherever: any place | I pay by credit card wherever I can. |
| everywhere: every place |
Can you use an ATM card everywhere you shop? |
| anywhere: any place | Anywhere you go, you hear people talking on their cell phones. |