We are independent & ad-supported. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links.
Advertiser Disclosure
Our website is an independent, advertising-supported platform. We provide our content free of charge to our readers, and to keep it that way, we rely on revenue generated through advertisements and affiliate partnerships. This means that when you click on certain links on our site and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn more.
How We Make Money
We sustain our operations through affiliate commissions and advertising. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission from the merchant at no additional cost to you. We also display advertisements on our website, which help generate revenue to support our work and keep our content free for readers. Our editorial team operates independently of our advertising and affiliate partnerships to ensure that our content remains unbiased and focused on providing you with the best information and recommendations based on thorough research and honest evaluations. To remain transparent, we’ve provided a list of our current affiliate partners here.
Linguistics

Our Promise to you

Founded in 2002, our company has been a trusted resource for readers seeking informative and engaging content. Our dedication to quality remains unwavering—and will never change. We follow a strict editorial policy, ensuring that our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts. This guarantees that everything we publish is objective, accurate, and trustworthy.

Over the years, we've refined our approach to cover a wide range of topics, providing readers with reliable and practical advice to enhance their knowledge and skills. That's why millions of readers turn to us each year. Join us in celebrating the joy of learning, guided by standards you can trust.

What Is an Adverb Clause?

By G. Wiesen
Updated: May 23, 2024
Views: 8,191
References
Share

An adverb clause is part of a sentence that includes both a subject and a verb, but acts as an adverb in the sentence. Much like other types of adverbs, these clauses provide additional information that describes or indicates something about a verb or an action that was taken. An adverbial clause is a dependent clause, which means that even though it has a subject and verb, it is not a grammatically complete sentence. This type of clause can take a number of different forms, though it usually answers a question related to the other part of the sentence, such as “How?” or “When?”

Also known as an adverbial clause, an adverb clause can be identified by a few different indicators, including the presence of a subject and a verb or predicate. In a sentence like “The cat ran quickly,” the subject is “The cat” and the predicate is “ran,” while “quickly” is a single word adverb that describes the action of the cat. Adverbs can also take the form of phrases, which include more than one word, to describe an action. “I went to the store on Sunday,” includes the adverb phrase “on Sunday” that describes when the action took place.

An adverb clause functions in much the same way, except it includes a subject and predicate or verb that creates an entire clause. Clauses are parts of a sentence that include a subject and express a well developed idea. In the sentence “I walked the dog because he was bored,” the subject is “I” and the predicate is “walked.” The direct object in the sentence is what the action was taken upon, which is “the dog.” “Because he was bored,” is an adverb clause that answers the question “Why?” regarding the first clause in the sentence.

In this example, the subject of the adverb clause is “he” which is a pronoun referring to “the dog” in the previous clause and the predicate is “was bored.” If this adverb did not have both a subject and a predicate, then it would not be a clause. It is a dependent clause, however, since “because he was bored” is not a complete sentence. This is due to the word “because,” which is called a subordinating conjunction.

The use of a subordinating conjunction, like “before” or “until,” is usually indicative of an adverb clause. Such clauses can easily be identified by the presence of a subordinating conjunction, the inclusion of a subject and predicate, and the fact that it answers a “why?” or “where?” type of question for the first clause. Another example can be found in a sentence like “He fell asleep after we watched the movie,” in which “after we watched the movie” is the adverb clause.

Share
Language & Humanities is dedicated to providing accurate and trustworthy information. We carefully select reputable sources and employ a rigorous fact-checking process to maintain the highest standards. To learn more about our commitment to accuracy, read our editorial process.
Link to Sources
Discussion Comments
Share
https://www.languagehumanities.org/what-is-an-adverb-clause.htm
Copy this link
Language & Humanities, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.

Language & Humanities, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.