Lecture 13  Nominal Clauses and Adverbial Clauses

1. Coordination and subordination

2. Coordinating devices:

coordinators

punctuation marks

3. Subordinators 4.  Nominal Clauses and Adverbial Clauses

Coordination and subordination

• Coordination and subordination: two devices for combining and relating ideas, used to connect clauses or sentences.

• Coordination: ideas of approximately equal importance.

• Subordination: a relationship which indicates that one idea is more important than the other.

• Simply, coordination connects units at the same level, while subordination connects units at different levels.

• My friend invited me to a party.

• I do not want to go.

• Coordination

• My friend invited me to a party, but I do not want to go.

• Subordination

• Although my friend invited me to a party, I do not want to go.

It is getting dark and I must go home now.

Because it is getting dark, I must go home now.

Peter is an engineer and his sister is a painter.

He closed the window, turn off the light and left the room.

We’ll have a picnic if it is fine tomorrow.

Because they had finished their homework, they went back home.

Coordination

• 1.Coordinate construction: semantically-related grammatical units that are similar in form, equal in rank or structure, identical in function.

• coordinated words: exciting but taxing • coordinated phrase: a kind mother and a stern

father • This government of the people, by the

people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth.

My first grade teacher was an elderly woman.

She was tall.

And she had a friendly manner.

My first grade teacher was an elderly, tall, and friendly woman.

• Coordinated clauses: form a compound sentence.• Alice is clever.• Jane is dull.• Alice is clever and Jane is dull.• Alice is clever, but Jane is dull.• She was not satisfied with her own achievement.• She was not satisfied with the team's performance.• She was not satisfied neither with her own

achievement nor with the team's performance.

• 2. Coordinating devices: coordinators and punctuation marks

• 2.1 Coordinators: coordinative conjunctions

• Central coordinators: and, or, but.

• Correlative coordinators: both … and, not only … but (also ), not … nor, neither … nor, either … or

• nor, so, yet, for, as well as, as much as, rather than, more than

• Semantically, three groups of coordinators:

• And coordinators denoting “addition” (listing)

• Or coordinators denoting “alternation” (alternating)

• But coordinators denoting “contrast” (contrasting)

a. And-group coordinators and, both …and, not only … but ( also ), not

… nor, neither … nor• He opened the door and went in. • Mrs Cox is both kind and gentle to her pupils.• He is Jack of all trades and master of none. • He heard a cry for help, and he rushed out of

the house. • Worker harder, and you will pass the test. • She is not only pretty but also intelligent.• He didn’t come to the party, and that is a pity.

• b. Or- group coordinators

• Or, either … or

• She is a student or something.

• Which John do you like to talk to, with or without beard?

• You can either come with me or stay at home.

• Either you do it now, or you are fired.

• Wear your coat, or you will catch a cold.

• Hurry up, or you will be late.

• C. But-group coordinators

but , not … but, while , whereas, yet, only, etc, • This coat is not mine but yours.• It never rains but it pours.• She is a funny girl, yet you can’t help liking her.• They are poor but/yet proud.• Fortune often knocks at the door, but the fool does

not invite her in.• You can fool some people all the time, but you can

not fool all the people all the time.• Wise men seek after truth, while/whereas fools

despise knowledge.

Exercises:• Mr. Fisher does not love the environment. He

is not accustomed to the weather either.• Tom speaks Chinese fluently. He can’t write in it.• They couldn’t decide what to do. They asked my advice.• Education is the largest industry. You can measure it in terms of dollars spent. You can measure it in terms of people

involved.

• Error correction:• Advertising should be informative, persuasive,

and of interest.• We thought she was charming, intelligent, and

a very capable young woman.• A man is judged not only by what he says but

also by his deeds.• Her lectures are witty, interesting, and she

outlines them carefully.• Give him an inch, or he will take a mile.

• 2.2 punctuation marks

• A. comma

• If we have three or more items, we normally use commas between them and save the coordinator for the last one.

• What I need after a day’s hard work is a hot shower, a cigarette and a nice cup of coffee.

• At customs, every box, bag, or parcel is inspected.

• B. semi-colon and colon

• Mr. Brown cooked, cleaned, mended, went to meetings of sewing club: he did everything just to please his wife.

• The breakfast menu consisted of fruit juice or cereal; a boiled, fried, or poached egg; toast and marmalade; and a pot of tea or coffee.

• If she married the man, her parents would be unhappy; if she left him, she herself would be unhappy.

More examples:

• In Plato's opinion man was made for philosophy; in Bacon's opinion philosophy was made for man.

• Buses are always crowded; hence he prefers to cycle.

• Three causes have been given for the failure: poor planning, insufficient manpower, and the shortage of material.

3. Subordination

• Subordination: linking of the two clauses at different syntactic levels and results in a complex sentence.

• I like John.

John likes me.• I like John and John likes me.• I like John because John likes me.• Some people can not distinguish between colors.

They are said to be color-blinded.• Some people who can not distinguish between

colors are said to be color-blinded.

• on the higher level: the main clause

• The attached clause on the lower level: the subordinate clause

• It is a general practice to put the main idea in the main clause and the minor idea in a dependent clause.

• A subordinate construction might be a finite clause, a non-finite clause, a verbless clause, or a phrase.

• As they were curious about their new neighbors, the Johnsons went and visited them at the first opportunity.Being curious about their new neighbors, the Johnsons …Curious about their new neighbors, the Johnsons …

With curiosity, the Johnsons went and visited their new neighbors at the first opportunity.

• 3.1. Subordinators:• Subordinate clauses are generally introduced by

subordinators.• A. Simple subordinators• after immediately unless

although lest untilbecause like when(ever)before since where(ever)directly that whereuponfor though whileif till whilst, etc

• When I was young, I listened to the radio waiting for my favorite songs.

• She married him not because he was rich but because he had an attractive personality.

• B. Complex subordinators

• Some of these end in “that”: considering (that), now (that), provided (that), seeing (that), in that Some end in “as”: as far as, as long as, as soon as

• Supposing that I don’t have a day off, what shall we do?

• Theory is valuable in that it can provide a direction for practice.

• As soon as he arrived at the hotel, he began to write to his girl friend.

• C. Correlative subordinators

• as … as

barely / hardly / scarcely .. whenHe had hardly go to bed when the door bell rang.

D. Marginal subordinators

• even if for the reason that if only for fear (that)

• They hide themselves behind the bush for fear that the enemy should find them.

• 3.2 Subordinate clauses:

• Syntactically, subordinate clauses can be subdivided into nominal, relative, and adverbial clause by their function.

• 3.2.1 Nominal clauses

known as “noun clauses”, usually introduced by “that” or by a wh-word, functioning as subject, object, subject complement, appositive, and prepositional complementation, eg:

• It is quite clear that the crime was done deliberately.I can’t imagine what made him behave like that.The mystery is whether he ever went there at all.My original question, why he did it at all, has not yet been answered.You must give it back to whoever it belongs to.

• 3.2.2 Relative clauses: introduced by a relative word, ie by a relative pronoun, a relative determiner, or a relative adverb.

• The man who is smoking a cigar is a film director.

• He refused to return the money to his aunt which she had saved for repairing the house.

• They told me that she stole the money, which turned out to be true.

• 3.3 Adverbial clauses• Semantically, this kind of clause can be subdivided

into adverbial clauses of time, place, manner, cause, result, purpose, condition, and concession, eg :

• Whenever I met with any difficulty, he came to my help.Where there is a will, there is a way.You must do the exercises as I show you.As there was no answer, I wrote again.He had overslept, so that he was late for work.They climbed to the top of the building in order that they could get a bird’s-eye view of the city.In case it rains, we won’t be able to go there on foot.I shouldn’t have time to see him, even if he were here.

• EXERCISES:

• 1. I am driving to the railway station to meet an engineer. He will be an important member of our team for the project.

• 2. Carlos decided to renew the lease on his New York apartment. He was growing tired of city life.

• 3. I was deeply touched by the scene. I couldn't keep back my tears.

• 4. We were eating dinner. Our guests arrived.

• 5. His mother waited up. He came home.

• 6. He had a soar throat. He had spoken for three hours.

• 7. She spoke French rapidly. I couldn’t understand her.

• 8. You promise to behave yourself. You shall not go to the party this afternoon.

• Coordinators or Subordinators?• 1. ____ the workers stopped for lunch, people were

allowed to enter the building.• 2. Mr. Clinton was a high school teacher for many

years, ___ now he is teaching at the university.• 3. He carried the parcel all the way home, ____ was

actually unnecessary.• 4. Not everyone can go to Cambridge ___ Oxford.• 5 You won’t enjoy your trip to Mexico ___ you are

careful about what you eat.• 6. They drive to the village ___ the barn dance was to

take place.• 7. It’s none of my business ____ you want to marry a

girl twenty years younger than you are.

We have made some progress. We still have a long way to go.We have made some progress but we still

have a long way to go.We still have a long way to go although we

have made some progress.Some progress having been made, we still

have a long way to go.Having made some progress, we still have

a long way to go.

Professor Li had great concern for us. She often came to help us.As Professor Li had great concern for us, she often

came to help us. Professor Li had great concern for us, so she often

came to help us.Professor Li often came to help us because she had

great concern for us. Professor Li, who had great concern for us, often came

to help us.Professor Li, having great concern for us, often came to

help us.Having great concern for us, Professor Li often came to

help us.Professor Li had great concern for us and therefore

often came to help us.

Attention:

1. Born in a small town in south China in the early 50s, he grew up to be a

famous musician.• Revised: He was born in a small town in south China in the early 50s.

Because he liked to sing songs from his childhood, he grew up to be a famous musician.

2. He died in a traffic accident, and he had just reached the age of 73. (ineffective)

He died in a traffic accident just after he had reached the age of 73.

3. Illogical: Because he was deaf when he wrote them, Beethoven’s final

symphonies were masterpieces.

Revised: Although Beethoven was deaf when he wrote his final symphonies,

they are musical masterpieces.

• She did her work _____her manager had instructed.• a. as b. until c. when d. though • There is no doubt ______the company has made the right

decision on the sales project.• a. why b. that c. whether d. when• Intellect is to the mind _______sight is to the body.• a. what b. as c. that d. like• Who _______was coming to see me in my office this

afternoon?• a. you said b. did you say • c. did you say that d. you did say • You won’t get a loan _____ you can offer some security. • A. lest B. in case C. unless D. other than

• _____ he needed money for a new car, he decided not to borrow it from the bank.

• A. Much as B. Much though C. As much D. Though much• He's _____ as a "bellyacher" — he's always complaining about

something. • A. who is known B. whom is known• C. what is known D. which is known• I can't go-- for one thing, I have no money, and _____ I have

too much work.A. what's more B. as well C. for another D. in addition

• He asked me to lend him some money, which I agreed to do, _____ that he paid me back the following week.

• A. on occasion B. on purpose C. on condition D. only if