Adverbial clauses

[Kal]

Hello Jose,

I stumbled onto your forum when I was looking for information on adverbial clauses. I am a native English speaker and I love grammar. I have found your site to be a treasure trove. I have read your explanation on the types of adverbial clauses and how detailed your explanation was. However, It seems that you missed a few.

What do you think about adverbial clause of reason, adverbial clause of contrast, adverbial clause of means, adverbial clause of distance, adverbial clause of frequency, adverbial clause of proportion, adverbial clause of preference, etc.?

What are the subcategories of each adverbial clauses?

Could you provide a comprehensive or near complete list of conjunctions for each semantic classes?

Since noun clauses, adverbial clauses, and relative clauses can look similar in structure, could you explain the differences between them in regard to structure or construction?

Many subordinating conjunctions, relative adverbs and/or relative pronouns can belong to multiple or function in different semantic classes of adverbial clauses, could you provide a list of those that can have many semantic roles in adverbial clauses?


I hope that I have not bombarded you with my questions. You seem to be right who would explain grammar thoroughly, which is why I am asking all these questions. Also, your explanation will benefit other learners of the English language or those who love the English language like I do. By the way, feel free to add many more that was not mentioned in my message.

[Joe Carillo]

I'm afraid that I won't be able to specifically answer all of your questions about adverbial clauses; to provide a complete list of conjunctions for each semantic class; to explain the differences in the structure of noun clauses, adverbial clauses, and relative clauses; and to identify the kinds of adverbial clauses with multiple semantic roles. Indeed, a comprehensive discussion of these grammatical aspects would probably take three semesters of formal instruction involving several dozens of lessons and exercises--and there's really no guarantee that you can achieve sufficient mastery of them within that time frame.

So my suggestion to you is to simply methodically mine the many lodes of grammar instruction or clarification that are already available in the Forum. It's best to start with the basic lessons to be found in the "Getting to Know English" section, specifically Lessons #1 and #2- "How the English Language Really Works"; Lesson #6 - "The Six Basic Logical Relationships in Language"; Lesson #4 - "Developing the English Sentence"; and Lesson #5 – "Constructing the English Sentence." With a good understanding of these basics, you can then proceed at your own pace by reading the other postings in that section that amplify or provide more detail about areas of particular interest to you. You need not hurry; the lessons in the Forum are meant to be read or studied at a leisurely pace. In time, you yourself should be able to effortlessly answer the many questions you are asking now. Just remember that this Forum is not meant to provide formal textbook English grammar and usage lessons but to serve simply as a venue for a serious self-study and review of those lessons. Of course, if there are grammar aspects that still puzzle you after reading a particular lesson, I'd be glad to clarify them or elaborate on them.

Good luck!