Complex sentences with adverbial clauses

Complex sentence has 2 or more clauses (main & subordinate)

According to their semantics we distinguish adverbial clauses of place, time, manner, comparison, condition, concession, purpose, cause, result. 1. An adverbial clause of place defines the place or the direction of the action expressed in the principal clause. It may be introduced by the conjunctions where, whence, wherever, everywhere (that) and conjunctive adverbs with prepositions. He said he was happy where he was. 2. An adverbial clause of time characterizes the action expressed in the main clause from the temporal point of view. An adverbial clause of time may be introduced by conjunctions: as, as soon as, as long as, when, whenever,, until, after, before, since and phrasal conjunctions: the time (that), the day (that), the moment, He saw her as he was getting of f the bus 3. An adverbial clause of manner characterizes actions, states, qualities, circumstances. 4. An adverbial clause of comparison., 5. An adverbial clause of condition, 6. An adverbial clause of concession, 7. An adverbial clause of, 8. An adverbial clause of cause expresses the reason, cause, or motivation of the action expressed in the main clause or of its content as a whole., 9. An adverbial clause of result denotes some consequences or result of the action expressed in the main clause. It may be introduced by the conjunctions so that or that. Result clauses always come after the main clause. (He spoke so clearly that we could understand every word.)

 

 

Oblique moods in adverbial clauses.

Oblique mood forms (Subjunctive II, Conditional and Suppositional) distinguish the categories of aspect, correlation and voice, but they have no tense category. Perfect forms of Subjunctive II, the Conditional and the Suppositional Mood indicate priority to the action expressed by the indicative mood form in the principal clause. Perfect forms always express past actions.

Subjunctive II is used:

1. In adverbial clauses of comparison or manner introduced by the conjunctions as if, as though: His voice broke as if he were going to cry. (simultaneous action) He speaks as if he had never seen me before, (prior action)

2. In adverbial clauses of unreal condition or concession (after the conjunction even if, even though). The principal clause contains a form of the Conditional Mood: I shouldn't take this line if I were you. (present action) Even if they had wanted me to stay I should have refused. (past action)

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

1. In adverbial clauses of purpose introduced by the conjunctions so that, lest (literary' style) the non-perfect Suppositional Mood is used or, rarely, Subjunctive I: Mary lowered her eyes so that he should not see the faint dream of amusement in them.

2.In adverbial clauses of concession introduced by though, although, whatever, whoever, whenever, wherever, etc., the non-perfect Suppositional Mood or Subjunctive I may be used with reference to the present or future: Though he should make every effort he cannot succeed.

In the adverbial clauses of conditionreferring to the futurethe Suppositional Mood is used (случилось так, что…) (Should a conflict ever flare up in Europe, it would immediately blow up into a world war.)

 

 

SUBJUNCTIVE II

Subjunctive II has two basic forms: non-perfect Subjunctive II is homonymous with the Past Indicative: spoke, went, built, wrote, did, etc. The only exception is the verb to be whose Subjunctive II form is were for all persons. Perfect Subjunctive II is homonymous with the Past Perfect Indicative for all verbs: had been, had done, had gone, had written, etc.

Meaning: Subjunctive II represents an action as contrary to reality: Use: Subjunctive II is used in simple sentences and in certain subordinate clauses of a complex sentence.

COMPLEX SENTENCE Subjunctive II us used in nominal and adverbial clauses.

NOMINAL CLAUSES 1.In attributive clauses after the expressions It is time, It is high time, It is about time: It's time I made up my mind. In attributive clauses only non-perfect Subjunctive II is used. 2.In predicative clauses introduced by the conjunctions as if, as though. The predicative clauses with Subjunctive II immediately follow the link verbs be, seem, look, feel, sound:

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES Subjunctive II is used: 1.In adverbial clauses of comparison or manner introduced by the conjunctions as if, as though: His voice broke as if he were going to cry. (simultaneous action) He speaks as if he had never seen me before, (prior action) 2.In adverbial clauses of unreal condition or concession (after the conjunction even if, even though). The principal clause contains a form of the Conditional Mood: I shouldn't take this line if I were you. (present action) Even if they had wanted me to stay I should have refused. (past action) Clauses of unreal condition may be introduced asyndetically. In this case inversion serves as a means of subordination: Were it all true, it would still not excuse their actions. Had she not worn an apron, I would not have known how to address her. Such sentences are characteristic of literary style.

 

 

THE CONDITIONAL MOOD

The Conditional Mood is an analytical form built up by means of the auxiliary verb should (for the 1st person) orwould (for the other persons) and the infinitive. The non-perfect Conditional Mood employs the indefinite or continuous infinitive: should do, would be going; the perfect Conditional Mood is formed with the help of the perfect or perfect continuous infinitive: should have done, would have been reading.

Meaning: The Conditional Mood, like Subjunctive II, represents an action as contradicting reality. The difference between the two moods is in their form and in their usage.Use: The Conditional Mood is used in simple sentences and in the principal clause of a complex sentence.

COMPLEX SENTENCE The Conditional Mood is used in the principal clauses of the complex sentences with the subordinate clauses of unreal condition or unreal concession (where Subjunctive II is used). The choice of actual forms depends on the time reference of the actions. 1. If the unreal actions in both the principal and the subordinate clause relate to the present or future, the non-perfect forms of respectively the Conditional Mood and Subjunctive II are used: I should never forgive myself if I profited by his generosity. 2. If both the actions contradicting reality relate to the past, the perfect Conditional is used in the principal clause and perfect Subjunctive II in the subordinate one: I'd have gone this morning, if I'd been able to get away. 3. The actions in the principal and subordinate clauses may have different time reference. Sentences of this kind are said to have split condition. The unreal condition may refer to the past (perfect Subjunctive II) and the unreal consequence to the present (non-perfect Conditional): The unreal condition may refer to no particular time (non-perfect Subjunctive II) and the unreal consequence may refer to the past (perfect Conditional): The modal verbs can, will, may are freely used in Subjunctive II to express unreal actions both in principal and subordinate clauses of unreal condition/concession: If the facts leaked out, the effect might very well be disastrous.

 

38. SUBJUNCTIVE I & THE SUPPOSITIONAL MOOD

These two moods will be treated together because they have the same meaning and are practically interchangeable in use. They differ in form as well as stylistically.

Forms: Subjunctive I is homonymous with the plain verb stem: be, do, have, go, write, etc. The negative form of Subjunctive I is not be, not do, not have. The Suppositional Mood is an analytical form built up with the help of the auxiliary verb should for all persons plus the infinitive. The non-perfect Suppositional Mood: should be, should do, should write. The perfect Suppositional Mood: should have been, should have done, should have written. Meaning: Both Subjunctive I and the Suppositional Mood express problematic actions, not necessarily contradicting reality. These actions are presented as necessity, order, suggestion, supposition, desire, request, etc.

COMPLEX SENTENCE Subjunctive I and the Suppositional Mood are used in nominal (subject, object, predicative), attributive appositive and some adverbial subordinate clauses.

NOMINAL AND ATTRIBUTIVE APPOSITIVE CLAUSES 1. Both Subjunctive I and the Suppositional Mood (non-perfect) can be used in subject, object, predicative and attributive appositive clauses if in the principal clause a modal meaning is expressed. 2. Only the Suppositional Mood (both non-perfect and perfect) is used in nominal and attributive appositive clauses if in the principal clause a personal reaction to events is expressed (for instance, with words like amazing, interesting, shocked, sorry, normal, natural, it's a shame, etc.)

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES 1. In adverbial clauses of purpose introduced by the conjunctions so that the non-perfect Suppositional Mood is used or, rarely, Subjunctive I: Mary lowered her eyes so that he should not see the faint dream of amusement in them. 2. In adverbial clauses of concession introduced by though, although, whatever, whoever, whenever, wherever, etc., the non-perfect Suppositional Mood or Subjunctive I may be used with reference to the present or future: Though he should make every effort he cannot succeed.