- •Foreword
- •Contents
- •Morphology the noun
- •The Category of Number
- •Invariable Nouns
- •The Genitive Case
- •Types of the Genitive Case
- •The article
- •Functions of the Article
- •The Use of Articles with Abstract Nouns
- •The Use of Articles with Material Nouns
- •The Use of Articles with Predicative Nouns and Nouns in Apposition
- •The Use of Articles in Some Set Expressions Nouns in set expressions used with the indefinite article
- •Nouns in set expressions used with the definite article
- •Nouns in set expressions used without an article
- •The Use of Articles with Some Semantic Groups of Nouns Articles with Names of Seasons and Parts of the Day
- •Articles with Names of Meals
- •Articles with the Nouns school, college, prison, jail, church, hospital
- •Articles with Names of Parts of the Body
- •Articles with Names of Specific Periods
- •The Use of Articles with Proper Names
- •Names of Persons
- •Geographical Names
- •Calendar Items
- •Miscellaneous Proper Names
- •The adjective
- •Morphological Composition
- •Semantic Characteristics
- •Descriptive adjective Limiting adjective
- •The Position of Adjectives
- •Degrees of Comparison
- •Patterns of Comparison
- •Intensifiers of Adjectives
- •Substantivized Adjectives
- •Adjectives and Adverbs
- •Oblique moods
- •Temporal Relations within the Oblique Moods
- •Subjunctive II
- •A. Simple Sentence
- •B. Complex Sentence
- •The Conditional Mood
- •The Suppositional Mood and Subjunctive I
- •Syntax the sentence
- •Sentence
- •The Simple Sentence. Structural Types
- •Communicative Types of Sentences
- •Interrogative sentences
- •Imperative sentences
- •The subject
- •Ways of expressing the Subject
- •Structural Types of the Subject
- •“It” and “there” as Subjects notional “it”
- •Formal subjects ‘’it” and “there”
- •The predicate
- •Agreement of the predicate with the subject Grammatical Agreement
- •Pronouns as Subjects
- •Agreement with Homogeneous Subjects
- •Notional Agreement
- •The object
- •Types of Objects
- •Structure and Ways of Expressing
- •Predicative Constructions that Function as Objects
- •The attribute
- •The apposition
- •The adverbial modifier
- •Structural Types of the Adverbial Modifier
- •Semantic Characteristics of the Adverbial Modifier
- •Absolute nominative constructions
- •Non-prepositional Absolute Constructions
- •The composite sentence
- •The Compound Sentence
- •The Complex Sentence
- •Nominal Clauses
- •Attributive Clauses
- •Adverbial Clauses
- •2. Adverbial clauses of place
- •Glossary of Linguistic Terms
- •List of Books
Attributive Clauses
Attributive clauses serve as an attribute to a noun (pronoun) in the main clause. This noun or pronoun is called the antecedent of the clause:
Holiday resorts which are crowded are not very pleasant.
According to their meaning attributive clauses may be divided into appositive and relative ones.
1. An appositive clause may be introduced by the conjunctions that, if, whether, as if, etc. and the conjunctive words what, how, etc..
An appositive clause discloses the meaning of a noun (the antecedent) with a general meaning, such as: idea, fact, reason, desire, question, remark, comment, etc.:
The fact that his letter did not require an immediate answer would give me time to consider.
The original question, why he did it at all, has not been answered.
She had a strange sensation as if something had happened.
2. A relative clause may be introduced by the relative pronouns and adverbs who, whose, whom, what, which, when, where, etc.:
He went to the next house, which stood in a small garden.
The clause is called a relative clause because it “relates” to the noun, in this case, by means of the word which. Relative clauses (like adjectives) describe persons, things and events.
Relative clauses can be defining (limiting/restrictive) and non-defining (descriptive/non-restrictive/commenting).
Defining relative clauses are very closely connected with the antecedent, provide essential information about it and therefore they cannot be removed without destroying the meaning of the sentence. Defining relative clauses are used without commas:
What kind of government would be popular? ― The government which promises to cut taxes.
A library is a place where they keep books.
Non-defining relative clauses contain additional information about the antecedent which can be omitted without serious change in the meaning of the main clause. Non-defining relative clauses are usually used with commas:
The government, which promises to cut taxes, will be popular.
I consulted my father, who promised to help me.
Note: There are only two conjunctions that can introduce non-defining relative clauses. They are who and which.
The following sentences have exactly the same words. The only difference in form between them is that the first sentence has a clause separated from the rest of the sentence by commas. There is, on the other hand, a big difference in meaning:
(A) Children, who are untidy, do not take care of their things.
(B) Children who are untidy do not take care of their things.
Sentence (A) is a statement about all children, and contains two facts: 1) all children are untidy and 2) all children fail to take care of their things. In other words, the clause .., who are untidy, ... is a non-defining clause.
Sentence (B) is a statement about some children, i.e. untidy children, and it states one fact about them: they fail to take care of their things. In other words, the clause ... who are untidy ...is a defining clause.
Adverbial Clauses
An adverbial clause performs the function of an adverbial modifier. It can modify a verb, an adjective or an adverb in the principal clause. According to their meaning we distinguish the following kinds of adverbial clauses: adverbial clauses of time, place, cause (reason), purpose, condition, concession, result, manner and comparison. Adverbial clauses can be identified by asking and answering the questions When? Where? How? Why? etc.
Time : Tell him as soon as he arrives : (When?)
Place : You can sit where you like : (Where?)
Manner: He spoke as if he meant business : (How?)
Reason : He went to bed because he felt ill : (Why?)
Adverbial clauses of time
An adverbial clause of time shows the time of the action expressed in the principal clause. Time clauses are introduced by after, as, as long as, as soon as, for, just as, once, since, before, by the time (= before, not later than), when, while, until/till (= up to the time when), the moment (that), whenever, every time, immediately, the first time, the last time, the next time etc.:
George had to wait for half an hour before the doctor came.
Time clauses follow the rule of the sequence of tenses; that is, when the verb of the main clause is in a present or future form, the verb of the time clause is in a present form and when the verb of the main clause is in a past form, the verb of the time clause is in a past form too:
I’ll stay in the office until I finish the project.
She arrived before the clock struck nine.
When the time clause precedes the main clause, a comma is used. When the time clause follows, no comma is used:
When he was in Washington, he met the President.
He met the President when he was in Washington.