An adverbial clause is a clausethe the circumstances indicates under which something happens. So she gives you answers to the questions «Why?», «When?», «Where?», «As?».
So sometimes she will circumstance determination called. Adverbial clauses can consist of one or more words, and sometimes even a whole clause can be an adverbial clause.
The function of adverbial clauses
Adverbial clauses indicate the more precise circumstances of a state of affairs. They don’t have to appear in every sentence, but adverbials are often used to describe something in more detail. An adverbial clause is also always a independent clausewhich provides additional information.
Mostly between the following four different adverbial determinations or also adverbials distinguished:
There are also four other adverbial clauses that can usually appear as a whole subordinate clause:
Consecutive AdverbialsConcessive AdverbialsConditional AdverbialsFinal AdverbialsSequence, ConsequenceCondition, ConsequenceConditionGoal, Purpose
If you would like to learn more about adverbial clauses in the form of subordinate clauses, take a look at our article «Adverbial Clause». There these four categories are explained in detail and with examples!
The adverbial clauses
Listed below are the four main adverbial clauses used in school.
Adverbial determination of time
temporal adverbialsas the adverbial determination of time is also called temporal circumstances For example, when or at what time something happened or how long it took.
You ask this part of the sentence with the following questions:
Yesterday I fell off my bike.
When did you fall off your bike? – Yesterday.
In this example, the time specification is «yesterday». This is therefore the temporal adverbial determination of the sentence.
Lisa was only today two hours at school.
How long was Lisa at school? – Two hours.
«Two hours» indicates a period of time and is therefore also a temporal adverbial.
Since five years i am with my boyfriend
How long am i dating my boyfriend – Since five years.
For the adverbial determination of time you can also say circumstance determination of time, temporal adverbial determination or temporal adverbials!
Adverbial determination of place
local adverbials give you Information about the place, for example where something is happening or where someone is going. This adverbial clause indicates the direction or place of the event.
You can ask them like this:
Tom is going with his girlfriend tomorrow to Berlin.
Where is Tom going with his girlfriend tomorrow? – To Berlin.
In this example, the local adverbial modifier «Wohin?» he asks. «To Berlin» indicates a direction and is therefore a local term.
I’m just from the mall came back.
Where from did you just come back – From the mall.
The phrase «from the mall» can be replaced with the question word «Where from?» are requested and is therefore a local determination.
In the garden I like to learn.
Where do I like to learn? – In the garden.
If you have the question word «Where?» can use, there is a place specification and thus also a local adverbial.
Adverbial determination of manner
modal adverbials give the way how something happens or under what circumstances something happens. You ask for this part of the sentence with:
- As?
- In which way?
- By which?
- Through which?
The teacher rewards his students after a good test with candies.
By which does the teacher reward students after a good test? – With candies.
In this example, the phrase «mit Bonbons» is modal because it answers the question «With what?» answered.
You shall the text very thorough read.
As should you read the text? – Very thorough.
If you ask «How?» it is a modal adverbial, as shown in this example.
As Tom learned a lot, he passed his high school diploma.
Through which did Tom pass his high school diploma? – By learning a lot.
In this example even forms a whole subordinate clause the modal adverbial clause, because it answers the question «Whereby?».
Adverbial determination of reason
causal adverbials give the reason why something happens or someone does something. So this adverbial clause gives the cause of an event on.
The following questions can be asked of a causal adverbial determination:
Because of the exam my grade went down.
Why did your grade go down? – Because of the exam.
In this example, the causal adverbial is replaced with «Why?» asked because it indicates the reason for the deterioration.
The soccer game is because of the bad weather failed yesterday.
why has the football game been cancelled? – Because of the bad weather.
A longer word group can also form a causal circumstance statement, as shown in this example.
To pass high school, Anna learns a lot.
For what reason does Anna learn a lot? – To pass high school.
«In order to pass the Abitur» is even a whole subordinate clause that starts with «Why?» is asked about and can therefore also be seen as a causal determination.
Differences to other clauses and parts of speech
The adverbial determination can be very similar to other clauses and parts of speech. So that you do not lose the overview, we will show you the most important differences below.
Difference between adverbial determination and adverb
The terms «adverb» and «adverbials» sound pretty much the same, but they mean two different things. To make the difference clear, you should first know what an adverb is.
What is an adverb?
Adverbs are one part of speechwhich indicate the circumstances under which something happens.
Hence the adverb also becomes circumstance word called. The adverb always refers to another word in the sentence and describes it in more detail.
The tree there is quite old.
In this sentence, the adverb “there” refers to the noun (noun) “tree”.
Lena practices hard-working for the next class work.
In this example, the adverb «diligent» refers to the verb «practice».
This picture is especially artistically designed.
In this example sentence, the adverb “especially” refers to the adjective “artistic”.
Another special feature of adverbs is that they cannot be inflected. This means, You can’t change adverbs and match their gender, case, or number.
Where’s the difference?
Aren’t circumstance definition and circumstance word the same? No!
An adverb is a part of speech. This can appear in a clause as an adverbial determination (determination of circumstances).
So it mainly depends on the context in which you analyze a sentence.
You decide parts of speech? Then you have an adverb.
Are you talking about sentence parts? Then it is always an adverbial clause.
Lars is leaving often with his friends at the pool.
In this example we have the adverb “often”. Looking at the clauses of the sentence, the same adverb “often” works as a temporal adverbial or temporal modifier.
Because of the high temperatures the students have today previously Ending.
In this sentence, the causal adverbial is marked in red. This phrase consists of several words and gives the reason why the students finished early. But it does not contain an adverb (due to: preposition, der: article, high: adjective, temperament: noun).
An adverb in this example is the word «earlier». However, it also has a function as a clause: since this is a temporal indication, this adverb functions as a temporal determiner.
So always pay attention to the context and the task:
Is about sentence parts, you have to consider the function of the word in the sentence. In addition, clauses can also contain several words. The entire group of words is then an adverbial.
However, if you parts of speech want to determine, a single word, i.e. the adverb, is always meant. However, adverbs can take on the function of an adverbial determination when it comes to clauses.
Difference between adverbial determination and attribute
The attribute and the adverbial clause sometimes look confusingly similar. To learn the difference, you should first know what an attribute is.
What is an attribute?
An attribute is an addition within a clause.
An attribute adds additional information to a clause, which can also be omitted.
That Red a house at the corner belongs to my grandpa.
In this example, «rote» is an adjective attribute and complements the phrase «the house». It describes the noun in more detail. «On the corner» is a prepositional attribute because it gives more information about the location of the house.
The bird, that I just sawwas quite large.
An attribute can also appear as an attributive subordinate clause that describes a noun more precisely. Nevertheless, this subordinate clause also belongs to the same clause. In this case, the subject is «The bird I saw».
Where’s the difference?
the adverbial determination is a independent clausewhile that attribute just one Sentence Completion is. This means that an adverbial clause can stand alone and be moved as a whole clause in the sentence.
An attribute, on the other hand, cannot stand alone and can only be moved together with its reference word, because both together form a clause.
The mugs in the cupboard look great.
In this sentence, «in the closet» is an attribute because you can’t move it in the sentence without «the cups». Otherwise, the meaning of the sentence also changes.
In the cupboard the cups look great.
This sentence is grammatically correct, but the content is different. In the first example, the cups are described in more detail by the attribute so that it is clear which cups are meant.
In the second sentence, however, «In the closet» no longer refers directly to the cups, but instead refers to the place where they look great. Therefore, there is an adverbial clause here. You can also swap these with other parts of the sentence or omit them.
So you can see that the difference lies in the meaning in particular. Some sentences can also have several readings:
After the afternoon nap, the child played on the playground with his new shovel.
In this sentence, «on the playground» can be interpreted both as an attribute and as an adverbial clause, depending on whether the child is to be described in more detail or whether the child’s whereabouts are being given.
Don’t worry, you probably won’t come across such difficult examples in school. If you’re still having trouble telling apart clauses and their parts, check out our article on identifying clauses!
Difference between adverbial determiner and prepositional object
Both a prepositional object and an adverbial clause can start with a preposition, so you should look closely if you want to distinguish them.
What is a prepositional object?
Prepositional objects usually occur in fixed phrases consisting of a verb and a preposition. Hence…