Adverb Clauses

Adverb clauses are an important part of spoken and written English, and must be understood if a student wants to be a fluent speaker or a better writer.

A clause is a unit of grammar that expresses a proposition. In other words, it is part of a sentence that contains some form of meaning:

Although there was a storm, I walked to work. Here, there are two clauses. “Although there was a storm” expresses a proposition, and so does “I walked to work.” The first clause in the example is called an adverb clause, which means that it is part of a sentence that contains a subordinating conjunction, a subject, and a verb. There are essentially five types of adverb clauses, and they can use a variety of subordinating conjunctions. They are:

1. Place – wherever, anywhere, everywhere, where

Everywhere she goes, she brings a camera.

2. Time – since, while, as soon as, before, after, until, when, anytime

While we were waiting for the pizza guy to arrive, we played poker at the kitchen table.

3. Reason – because, since, as, for, so that

Because it was exceptionally cold, I wore my winter jacket.

4. Condition – if, when, unless, even if, even though

Even if they lose by five goals, people will still love them.

5. Contrast – though, although, despite, in spite of, whereas

Despite the poor service provided by the wait staff, we still enjoyed the food and the atmosphere of the restaurant.

All of these examples contain two parts: a subordinate clause (the adverb clause), and an independent clause. A subordinate clause needs an independent clause for it to have a complete context and for it to make sense.

The subordinate clause and independent clause can be reversed in a sentence. However, if the subordinate clause comes first, there must be a comma between it and the independent clause:

Anytime I want to go outside, it always seems to rain.

This sentence can also be flipped, so that the independent clause comes first. However, if the independent clause comes first, a comma is not necessary:

It always seems to rain anytime I want to go outside.