ST R U C T U R E O F E N G L I S H

L
 Adverbial Clause
• A clause that have adverbial function
• May function as disjunct and conjunct adverbials
• it cannot be interrogative or imperative
• it begins with a complementizer

• Comp → {while, since, because, although, if, when, so that, as, such, before, after,
until, as long as, as soon as, by the time that, now that, once, inasmuch as
Adjunct Adverbial Clause
• Adjunct Adverbial Clauses
• The student left the room before I had finished the lecture.
• She looked around the room as if she knew people there.
• He lied because he was afraid.
• We won’t have our picnic if it rains.
• I tried to finish it although I was very tired.
• Joshua spends his spare time reading, while Bill watches television.
• It’s such a hot day that I’m going to the beach.
• She works harder than her sister works (does).
• We climbed higher so that we could get a better view.
• Conjunct adverbial clauses appear to be infrequent
• Ex. Although these are important considerations
Disjunct Adverbial Clause
• if I may speak frankly
• if I judge accurately
• unless I am mistaken
WH Clause
• always begins with a complementizer, in this case, who, whom, whose, what, which, why,
when, where, and how
• However, an important difference between adverbial clauses and wh-questions is that the
complementizerinthewh-clause,thewh-word,alwayshasafunctioninitsownclause.Ifthe wh-
word is removed, the clause usually becomes incomplete. Furthermore, the form of the
wh-complementizer depends upon its function. (You can perhaps more easily determine
the function of the wh-word by putting the question in the form of a statement: e.g., You
did see whom last night, You did leave early why.) Who, whom, and what function as
interrogative pronouns(Table9.3a).They are standing for NPs ( or clauses functioning
nominally) which could serve as answers to the questions:
• Who called you last night? Felipe. What did you say? That I would be late.
Forms of the Interrogative Wh-Complementizer
• (a) Pronoun
• What happened to you last night? (subject)
• Who called you last night? (subject)
• What did you do last night? (direct object)
• Whom did you see last night? (direct object)
• Whom did you give the money to? (indirect object)
• Whom did you go to the movie with last night? (object of preposition)
• What did you call me? (object complement)
•(b) Determiner
•Whose car did you take?
•Which movie did you see?
•What movie did you see?
•(c) Adverb
•Why did you leave early?
•When did the movie let out?
•Where did you park? How did you get to the
theatre?
•(d) Degree Word
• How expensive was the show?
(modifying A)
•How quickly can you get here?
(modifying Adv