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An adverbial clause is a dependent clause that functions as an adverb. [1] That is, the entire clause modifies a separate element within a sentence or the sentence itself. As with all clauses, it contains a subject and predicate, though the subject as well as the (predicate) verb are omitted and implied if the clause is reduced to an adverbial phrase as discussed below.
Since a dependent clause cannot stand on its own as a sentence, complex sentences must also have at least one independent clause. In short, a sentence with one or more dependent clauses and at least one independent clause is a complex sentence. A sentence with two or more independent clauses plus one or more dependent clauses is called compound ...
A clause typically contains a subject (a noun phrase) and a predicate (a verb phrase in the terminology used above; that is, a verb together with its objects and complements). A dependent clause also normally contains a subordinating conjunction (or in the case of relative clauses, a relative pronoun, or phrase containing one).
The earliest use of the word clause in Middle English is non-technical and similar to the current everyday meaning of phrase: "A sentence or clause, a brief statement, a short passage, a short text or quotation; in a ~, briefly, in short; (b) a written message or letter; a story; a long passage in an author's source."
A conjunctive adverb, adverbial conjunction, or subordinating adverb is an adverb that connects two clauses by converting the clause it introduces into an adverbial modifier of the verb in the main clause. For example, in "I told him; thus, he knows" and "I told him. Thus, he knows", thus is a conjunctive adverb. [1]
Subordination as a concept of syntactic organization is associated closely with the distinction between coordinate and subordinate clauses. [2] One clause is subordinate to another if it depends on it. The dependent clause is called a subordinate clause and the independent clause is called the main clause (= matrix clause). Subordinate clauses ...
(adjectival clause, in this case a relative clause, modifying a noun in a noun phrase) His desk was in [the faculty office]. (noun adjunct modifying a noun in a noun phrase) [Put it gently in the drawer]. (adverb in verb phrase) He was [very gentle]. (adverb in adjective phrase) She set it down [very gently]. (adverb in adverb phrase)
In main clauses, the V2 constraint holds. The finite verb must be in position (2) and sentence adverbs in position (4). The latter include words with meanings such as 'not' and 'always'. The subject may be position (1), but when a topical expression occupies the position, the subject is in position (3). In embedded clauses, the V2 constraint is ...