Adverbials

Adverbials are clause elements that serve three major functions:

 They tell the circumstances relating to the clause, such as when or where an
activity took place (circumstance adverbial)
 They express a speaker’s feelings, evaluation or comments on what the clause
is about (stance adverbials)
 They link the clause (or some part of it) to another clause (linking adverbials)

Characteristics of adverbials:
 They serve a variety of functions: Some add something about the circumstances
of an activity or state. Others give a speaker’s comment about what a clause says.
Still others serve a connective function.
 They have many semantic roles: they can express location or place; reason;
concession; time; agency and attitude.
 They have a wide range of syntactic forms: Including adverbs, noun phrases,
prepositional phrase and clauses.
 They occur in various positions in clauses: initial position, medial position before
the main verb but after the subject, and final position.
 Multiple adverbials can occur in a clause
 Most adverbials are optional: the only exceptions follow certain verbs that take
obligatory adverbial complementation.

The main classes of adverbials

 Circumstance adverbials: They add something about the action or state
described in the clause. They answer the questions such as ‘how?’ ‘when’
‘where’ ‘how much’ how long’ and ‘why’. They include both obligatory
adverbials, and optional adverbials.
Circumstance adverbials are the most integrated into the clause.
 Stance adverbial: Add speaker’s comments on what they are saying or how
they are saying it. They have three categories: epistemic, attitude and style
adverbials
Epistemic stance adverbials focus on the question: how true is the information in the
clause. They comment on factors such as certainty, viewpoint and limitations of truth
value (Definitely, from my perspective, on the whole)
Attitude stance adverbials express speakers’ evaluations and attitudes towards the
content of a clause. (To my surprise, fortunately)
Style stance adverbials convey a speaker’s comment on the style or form of the
communication. Often clarify the speaker’s manner of speaking or how the utterance
should be understood. (Technically speaking, to be precise, quite frankly)
  Linking adverbials: serve a connecting function, rather than adding information
to a clause. They show the relationship between two units of discourse.
(However, furthermore, yet, first)

Syntactic forms of adverbials

 Single adverbs and adverb phrases: never, very well, frankly, first, etc.
 Noun phrases (including single nouns): Saturday, each year, etc.
 Prepositional phrases: with them, for a few weeks, in this chapter
 Finite clauses: because Rupert was shrieking, we do not act
 Non-finite clauses: -ing clauses, -ed clauses, to infinitive clauses, Verbless
clauses

Position of adverbs
Initial: Before the Subject or any other obligatory element: Generally, However, etc.
Medial: Three specific positions:
 Between the subject and the beginning of the verb phrase: Jean never put
anything away; I really don’t know what they’re doing
 When an operator is present, the adverbial is often placed after the operator
but before the main verb: Carrie had often dreamed about coming back
 Adverbials can also occur after the main verb but before other obligatory
elements of the clause (e.g. before the subject predicative or DO) This
placement is normal with the copula be.
Adverbials are also occasionally placed after other main verbs.
 Final: after obligatory elements: And he’s trailing some [in the back window]
[as well]
 No clause: stand- alone adverbials: In some cases, adverbials occur without a
main verb in a clause. This happens most often in conversation: Are you gonna
have a potato fork? There you are. On the table.

Semantic categories of circumstance adverbials

o Place:
Distance adverbials: usually answer the question ‘How far?’ They include specific
measurements and general description of distance: a long way, 50 feet

Direction adverbials: describe the pathway of an action. They answer the question
“to(wards) where?” “From where?” or “in what direction” Some give a general
description.

Position adverbials: Indicate a point of location. They answer the question “where”

o Time:
Point in time adverbials: tell when an even occurs: tomorrow night, in January,
nowadays

Duration: Describe how a long event lasts: for a week, years, for fifteen years
Frequency adverbials: Tell how often an event occurs: every single day, occasionally,
sometimes

Time relationships adverbials: Describe the relationship between two events, states or
times: before I take a load of stuff in, after this

o Process:
Manner adverbials: Describe the manner or way something is done: they answer the
question “how”: slowly, endlessly, in that western way, with dignity, piecemeal, etc.
- Adverbials of comparison are a special type of manner adverbial. They compare
the manner of one state/action to another: like a vacuum cleaner, as though
life is a complete grind.
- Another type of manner adverbial answers the question “with what” or “with
whom”: with two sleeping bags over the top of his head, with somebody else.

Means adverbials: describe the means by which an activity or state is accomplished: by

air, by excluding birds for 3 years from…

Instrument adverbials: these mention the item that is used for a task: with
headphones, with a spoon, with splintering finger-nails

Agent adverbials: Tell the agent or the causer of a happening. They are used in passive
constructions: The fruit-pulp is also eaten by animals. The agent adverbial corresponds
to the subject of an active voice construction.

o Contingency: tell us how one event or state is contingent- that is, dependent-
upon another.
Cause/reason adverbials: These answer the question “why”: ‘cos he doesn’t know you,
of head injuries
Concession adverbials: These convey an idea that contrasts with the main idea of the
rest of the clause: despite intimidation, although it has been used by others, etc.
Result adverbials: Tell the results of the events described in the rest of the clause or in
the main clause: so that Mr Harrison had to…, with the result that…

o Degree: answer the questions “how far/much/many?” and “to what extent?”
Sometimes they indicate amounts, either in exact terms or more generally: a
bit, at 22,000 killed, or deserted.
Other degree adverbials intensify the message in the clause (these adverbials are
sometimes called amplifiers or intensifiers) : very much, completely.
Other, called diminishers lower the strength of a claim made in the clause: a little bit,
slightly

o Addition and restriction: This category includes two opposite types of

adverbials. They show that an idea is being added to a previous one: too, also.
Restriction adverbials emphasize that the idea in the clause is limited in some way. For
example: only a sick man can be paraphrased: a sick man and no one else.
Unlike many other adverbials, addition and restriction cannot easily be moved without
affecting their scope. The position is important in determining what element of the
clause is the focus of the addition or restriction. For example, moving the restriction
adverbial to:
So you’ll have to be especially good, Sundays / So you’ll have to be good, especially
Sundays

o Recipient: tell to whom an action was directed. Often the recipient is a person
or group of people: for you, to the democrat-controlled legislature, for wild
mice, for our house.
Other verbs + recipient adverbials can be alternatively analysed as a prepositional
verb with an object. The recipient adverbial can often be replaced by an indirect
object.

Adverbial clauses
Adverbial clauses are types of finite subordinating clauses that naturally appear within
the Predicate of main clauses since they fulfil the function of Adjuncts in the main
subordinate clause. Adverbial clauses are linked to their main superordinate clause by
means of a subordinating conjunction. This conjunction is included in the
subordinating clause but has no syntactic function in either the Subject or the
Predicate of the subordinating clause.

[I discovered the envelope <when I was painting the room>]

t.v pm h. noun Adj. Time (adverbial element)
S/pronoun NP / CDO

We can see that <when I was painting the room> has the function of adjunct of time within the
Predicate of the main clause. This can be tested on the fact that the information conveyed by
this clause is peripheral and therefore can be eliminates without altering the meaning of the
sentence. Additionally, this Adjunct is relatively mobile and it can be positioned at the front of
the sentence without much variation in its meaning.
For the analysis of the subordinating clause, we need to mention first that the connector that
link the subordinating clause to the main clause of the sentence has no syntactic function
within either the Subject or the Predicate of the subordinating clause. We will just indicate the
category of this linker.

When I was painting the room

SC aux t.v def. H. Noun
prog. PM
aspect

S/pronoun

Adjuncts are traditionally classified into:

 Manner  Result
 Instrument  Purpose
 Company  Comparison
 Cause  Condition
 Reason  Concession
 Place  Time

Examples:
1. [They didn’t worry <as I did> about the halo around the head of the baby Jesus
<what it was made of> <what kept it hovering over his head and travelling
along with him <wherever he went>>).]
2. [(She was a biologist <before she decided to get her librarian’s qualifications>).]
3. [(Cheryl slides the little tower of books toward me slowly, <as though they
were gathered treasure aboard the deck of a schooner>).]

Since adverbial clauses have the function of Adjunct, which appears in the Predicate of
a clause, and since adverbial clauses, as happens with all clauses unlike with phrases,
are divided into Subject and Predicate, they can contain another adverbial clause
within their own Predicate.

Adverbial Clauses with No Subordinating Conjunction

Certain adverbial clauses admit subordination without the presence of an overt
subordinating conjunction. This occurs, with Adjuncts of Condition and Adjuncts of
Concession which undergo inversion of order.
- [(These words hurt my feelings slightly), but (then the reviews, <good as they
were>, had subtly injured me too).]
By inserting the subordinating conjunctions if and restoring their Subjects to their pre-
operator position
 - [(These words hurt my feelings slightly), but (then the reviews, <even though
they were good>, had subtly injured me too).]

Adverbial clauses have the function of an adverb and are classified into at least nine
types, being introduced by the following conjunctions:

 Time: after, as, before, now, once, since, till, until, when, while, as long as, as
soon as, by the time, every time, so long as
 Place: where, wherever
 Manner: as
 Purpose: lest, that, for fear, in order that, so that (may, might, should are often
used) “Let the dog loose so that it can (may) run”
In order that… not and so that… not, when used to indicate a fear or possibility, are
sometimes replaced by for fear (that), in case, or (rare except in literary style) lest
 Reason or Clause: as, because, inasmuch as, since, so, that, for
 Result: that, so that
 Condition: as if, if, in case, in so far as, provided (that), so long as, suppose,
supposing, unless
 Concession: although, as, even if, however, notwithstanding that, though
When we use the conjunction “however” it must be attached to some adverb as much
or to some adjective as rich, and it is always placed at the beginning of its sentence.
(He will never succeed, however much he may try)
 Comparison: as…as, more… than, less… than, like, as though

Classification of Conjunctions
Conjunctions are also classified according to their form into:
a) Simple (one word): and, or, until, etc.
b) Compound (two or three words): as well as, or else, so that, as soon as
c) Correlative (its elements are not together): so…that, both…and, either…or, etc.

1- Cumulative Conjunctions: and, also, too, as well as, no less than, both… and,
not only… but also, now, well, not… either… or, nor, neither… nor
2- Alternative Conjunctions: either… or, otherwise, else, or, or else
3- Adversative Conjunctions: but, still, yet, nevertheless, however, whereas,
while, only, and yet, on the other hand
4- Illative Conjunctions: therefore, then, so then, so far, so, and so, that’s why,
that’s the reason why, for that reason, consequently “So” has two functions:
- Adverb of degree functioning as post-modifier
- First element of the correlative subordinating
conjunction
Syntactic forms of adverbial clauses
In all registers, finite clauses are more common than non-finite. Finite clauses have
several advantages over the others.

Finite clauses have subordinators, which allow them to cover a wide variety of
semantic relationships. The subordinators of finite clauses make the relationship
between the adverbial and the main clause explicit.
 Finite clauses also contain an overtly stated subject, which can be different from
the mal clause: When you’re young, everything seems reversible, remediable
 Finally, finite adverbial clauses can have different tense, aspect, or modality
from the main clause: Last Saturday we were frantically doing that painting
before it got dark <main clause verb: past progressive; adverbial clause verb:
past simple>
I like these foreign pictures because I can believe in them
<main clause verb: present simple; adverbial clause verb: modal>
 The different in tense and modality is essential in hypothetical conditional
clauses, where modals and tenses express the unreal nature of the proposition:
Well you might get some facts right if you did!

Non-finite clauses have a more limited range of meaning: most to- clauses express just
one kind of meaning: purpose.
 Non-finite clauses are more constrained because their subject is usually implied
or understood, rather than overt. The understood subject of the adverbial
clause must normally be the same as in the main clauses: I borrowed a portable
phone to ring Waterloo to complain = we understand that I, not some other
subject, had to ring Waterloo and complain
 Non-finite clauses show some strong preferences for semantic category and
register.

Dangling participles
A rule forbids the use of a dangling (or unattached) participle – an ing- or ed- clause
with an understood subject that is different from the subject in the main clause. These
clauses can cause absurd interpretations if they are taken literally.
Leaving the road, the deep resin-scented darkness of the trees surrounded them
The understood subject “they” is missing from the main clause. The dangling participle
structure implies that the darkness left the road, which is absurd.

In certain situations, this rule is relaxed, especially:

 When the adverbial clause is a style adverbial and the implied subject is the
speaker: Putting it more simply, a racing program is always a programming
error <If may I put it more simply>
 When the main clause has non-referential it as subject: When writing the
formula… <When one is writing… >
 When the entire main clause is the implied subject of the adverbial clause:
Unknown to him, two people… <It was unknown to him that to people…>
 In scientific writing when passives are used: Using flowing nutrient solutions