Staff Site Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta

Complex
Sent ence
wit h an adver bial clause

Wr it ing 1
Sar i Hidayat i, M.A
sar i_hid@yahoo.com/ sar i_hidayat i@uny.ac.id

A complex sent ence :
A sent ence t hat consist s of independent clause
(main clause) and dependent clause (subordinat e
clause)
There are t hree kinds of dependent clauses:

1.
2.
3.
v

Adj ect ive Clause (Relat ive Clause)
Adverbial Clause

Noun Clause
This unit f ocuses on complex sent ences
wit h adverbial clauses.

An adverb clause is :
a dependent clause t hat f unct ions as an
adverb.
It can t ell when, wher e, why, how, how
l ong, how f ar, how of t en, and f or what
pur pose somet hing happened.
An adverb clause can also express a
cont rast .

Kinds of Adver b Clauses

• Time clauses answer











t he quest ion “ When?”

Place clauses answer t he quest ion “ Where?”
Clauses of manner answer t he quest ion “ How?”
Dist ance clauses answer t he quest ion “ How f ar?”
Fr equency clauses answer t he quest ion “ How of t en?”
Pur pose clauses answer t he quest ion “ For what
int ent ion?”

Result clauses answer t he quest ion “ For what ef f ect ?”
Condit ional clauses answer t he quest ion “ Under what
circumst ance?”

Cont rast clauses show how one t hing dif f ers f rom

anot her

Punct uat ion of Adverb Clauses
The punct uat ion of an adverb clause depends on t he
order of t he clauses.
When an adverb clause comes f irst in a sent ence,
put a comma af t er it .
When an adverb clause f ollows an independent
clause, do not separat e t he clauses wit h a
comma.
Because humans ar e cur ious animals, t hey const ant ly explor e t he wor ld.
adverb clause

main clause

Humans const ant ly explor e t he wor ld because t hey ar e cur ious animals.
main clause

adverb clause


OTHER EXAMPLES :
A.

When he handed in his homework , he f orgot t o give
t he t eacher t he last page.

B.

The t eacher ret urned t he homework aft er she not iced
t he error.

C.

The st udent s are st udying because t hey have a t est
t omorrow.

D.

Af t er t hey f inished st udying, Jef f and Pam went t o t he
movies.


E.

Jef f and Pam went t o t he movies aft er t hey f inished
st udying.

Not e : t he adverb clauses are underlined.

v When a complex sent ence begins wit h a
subordinat or, such as sent ences A and D,
a comma i s r equi r ed at t he end of t he
dependent clause.

v When t he independent clause begins t he
sent ence wit h subordinat ors in t he
middle, as in sent ences B, C, and E, no
comma i s r equi r ed .

v


If a comma is placed bef ore t he
subordinat ors in sent ences B, C, and E,

i t i s wr ong.

v Not e t hat sent ences D and E are t he
same, except t hat sent ence D begins wit h
t he adverb clause which is f ollowed by a
comma, and sent ence E begins wit h t he
main clause which cont ains no comma.

v The comma af t er t he dependent clause in
sent ence D is required, and exper ienced
list ener s of English will oft en hear a
slight pause t her e.
v In sent ence E, however, t here will be no
pause when t he independent clause
begins t he sent ence.

Connect or s for Adver b Clauses

For complet e explanat ions of connect ors f or
adverb clauses, please ref er t o
Oshima & Hogue (1997)
Int r oduct i on t o Academi c Wr i t i ng

PRACTICE 1 – Complex Sent ence Const r uct ion
Const ruct complex sent ences cont aining adverb
clause f ollowing t he appropriat e f unct ion and
using appropriat e connect ors of t he clause.
1. Everyone should know what t o do. An
eart hquake st rike.
2. There are a f ew places of business. A credit
card is not accept ed t here.
3. The art if act s were of hist oric value.
Ant hropologist s f rom several universit ies came
t o st udy t hem.
4. Scient ist s know why eart hquakes happen. They
are st ill not able t o predict t hem.
5. Chemicals are added t o many f oods. The f oods
will st ay f resh longer.


PRACTICE 2 – SENTENCE COMPLETION
Using t he prompt given, complet e t he sent ences
using t he appropriat e adverb clauses.

1.

The company president would not have resigned
if _________________________________

2.

People like t o buy organic f arm produce so t hat
___________________________________

3.

In recent years, Asian medical t echniques such as
acupunct ure have gained accept ance in t he West
even t hough ________________________


4.

Sout h Korea is becoming an economic superpower
because ____________________________

5.

You cannot use your credit card unt il __________

v

WRITING PRACTICE

Writ e complex sent ences cont aining an
adverb clause as a response t o t he
f oll owing pict ures