Types of Subordinate Clauses: Adverb Clauses
An adverb clause begins with a subordinating conjunction, and it modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb. Consider the following example:
When she heard the bad news, Mrs. Mallard locked herself in a room.
Notice that the adverb clause “When she heard the bad news” begins with the subordinating conjunction “when.” Because it opens the sentence, it is set off from the independent clause (“Mrs. Mallard locked herself in a room”) with a comma. This is a rule of comma usage.
Also notice that because adverbs can be moved around in a sentence, the adverb clause can be moved around as well. A person could say the following:
Mrs. Mallard locked herself in a room when she heard the bad news.
Here, the adverb clause is placed at the end of the sentence, and it is not set off from the independent clause with a comma. It is only set off with a comma when it opens the sentence.
Other Subordinating Conjunctions
- after
- although
- as
- as if
- as long as
- as soon as
- because
- even if
- even though
- if
- since
- though
- unless
- until
- when
- whenever
- where
- wherever
- while
Read the following sentence:
Since the Mallards did not have a great marriage, Mrs. Mallard was not very upset about her husband’s death.
