THE ADVERBIAL CLAUSE OF TIME
=Function.=--All actions or events can be referred to some time--past,
present, or future. Frequently the whole significance of an event
depends upon either the time of its occurrence or its duration; hence
it is often desirable and sometimes necessary to tell the time when
an action takes place or state the period of its continuance. We may
do this by means of single words, like _then_, _now_, _tomorrow_,
_forever_, or by phrases, like _a long time ago_, _at the present day_,
_before supper_, _till the end of the world_. Frequently, however, we
wish to fix the time of one activity with relation to the time of some
other activity. To do this we usually employ a proposition in the form
of a temporal clause; for example,
“The British soldier trembles
When Marion’s name is told.”--_Bryant._
Here the action of trembling is said to take place at the time of
another action, the telling of Marion’s name. Notice that from this
sentence we get double information, (1) that two actions occur
simultaneously, (2) that one is the cause of the other.
* * * * *
=Introductory Word.=--All time clauses are introduced by some word
which in itself denotes time, and which is chosen because of the
special meaning attached to it. This word subordinates the clause
to the principal proposition, and connects it to that part of the
principal proposition which the clause modifies. Most grammarians say
that this connective is a conjunctive adverb, and that it not only
connects the two propositions but also modifies the verb in the clause.
To us its grammatical office seems to be that of a mere connective,
hence we call it a subordinating conjunction of time. The several
conjunctions of this class can best be studied in sentences containing
them.
1. “_When a prisoner first leaves his cell_, he cannot bear the light
of day.”--_Macaulay._ Here _when_ is chosen in order that the sentence
may signify that the two actions occur at the same time.
_Then_ in the principal proposition is sometimes used as a correlative
of _when_ in the clause. _Then_ is not a necessary word, but if the
clause is long, _then_ is useful in informing the reader that the
principal proposition is about to begin.
2. “Man should forget his anger _before he lies down to sleep_.”--_De
Quincey._ _Before_ (sometimes _ere_) makes a sentence signify that the
main action occurs in time previous to the time of the action expressed
in the clause.
3. “_After I had learned to row in the gondolier fashion_, I voyaged
much in the lagoon with my boat.”--_Howells._ _After_ makes the
sentence signify that the main action occurred later than the action in
the clause.
Sentences in which temporal clauses are introduced by _when_, _before_,
_ere_, or _after_, only establish for us the proper relation between
two points of time; viz., that one point coincides with another,
is antecedent to it, or subsequent to it. If we wish to denote the
duration of a state or an activity, we introduce the temporal clause by
_while_, _since_, _till_, or _until_.
4. “_While they sat at dinner_, a great fire of sunset spread over the
west.”--_Black._ _While_ signifies _during the time that_.
5. “_Since you were at Oulton_, my wife has been growing
worse and worse in health, and more and more eccentric and
crotchety.”--_Shorthouse._ _Since_ signifies _from the time that_.
6. “_Till men have been some time free_, they know not how to use their
freedom.”--_Macaulay._ _Till_ signifies _up to the time that_.
7. If we wish to be exact about the time that something begins, we
introduce the temporal clause by the phrase _as soon as_, or _soon
as_, which phrase may be considered one connective,--“_As soon as it
is convenient to_ you, I shall be glad for you to leave this sombre
place.”--_Shorthouse._
8. _As_ is frequently used either for _when_ or for _while_.
“The boat had touched the silver strand,
Just _as the hunter left his stand_.”--_Scott._
9. If we wish to state exactly when something ends, we introduce the
temporal clause by _as long as_, or _so long as_,--“_So long as men
had slender means, whether of keeping out cold or checkmating it with
artificial heat_, Winter was an unwelcome guest, especially in the
country.”--_Lowell._
10. _Whenever_ means _at any time that_,--
“Yet _whenever I cross the river,
On its bridge with wooden piers_,
Like the odor of brine from the ocean
Comes the thought of other years.”--_Longfellow._
11. Clauses introduced by _now that_ denote both time and cause, and
it is often difficult to determine which of the two ideas is more
prominent. In the sentence,--“What do you think of your home _now that
you see it_?”--_Black_, there is certainly more of time than of cause,
for if the verb in the principal proposition were changed from the
present tense to either past or future, _when_ would be substituted for
_now that_.
* * * * *
=What the Time Clause modifies.=--Since we use a time clause to
tell (1) when a state exists or when an activity is performed, (2)
the duration of an activity or a state, it is clear that the clause
modifies a word denoting state or action, namely, a verb. Usually
it modifies a predicate verb, but it may modify the verbals, either
infinitives or participles.
It must be noted here that modifiers vary in their closeness to the
word modified; and therefore in analyzing sentences modifiers should be
given, not in the order of their position, but in the order of their
closeness. In the sentence,--“One night, shortly after the coldest
weather set in, he lost his oar as he was returning to the island,” the
verb _lost_ is modified by three elements denoting time, (1) _as he
was returning to the island_, (2) _one night_, (3) _shortly after the
coldest weather set in_.
NOTE.--In the sentence just quoted, the connective _after_ is preceded
by the adverb _shortly_, which is put into the sentence to tell how
long after the coldest weather set in, hence it is a modifier of
the whole clause. Other adverbial clauses than those of time may be
modified in this way; for example, The Puritans espoused the cause of
civil liberty _mainly_ because it was the cause of religion.
It is interesting and instructive to note that other ideas may be
associated with that of time in a temporal clause. A clause introduced
by _until_ sometimes denotes result as well as time.--“Skirts grew more
and more bulbous _until it did not need more than three or four women
to make a good-sized assembly_.”--_Warner._
A clause introduced by _since_ may denote time and cause.--“_Since I
have begun to examine these expressive little brutes_, I have made many
profound observations.”--_H. James._
A clause introduced by _when_ may denote time and condition.--“_When
the eyes say one thing and the tongue another_, a practiced man relies
on the language of the first.”--_Emerson._
Exercise 9
Select temporal clauses in the following sentences, telling what each
clause modifies and what it denotes, also its connective.
1. Hero worship endures forever while man endures.--_Carlyle._
2. Almost as soon as I entered the house, I singled you out as the
companion of my future life.--_Jane Austen._
3. When the need of such an institution as Feudalism no longer
existed, then it was broken up.--_Lord._
4. Book in hand, he followed the service with one eye, while he
admonished perpetually the boys to keep still and to listen.--_Besant._
5. It absolutely startles me now he is in my mind, to find how plainly
I see him.--_Collins._
6. Their young men cut neither hair nor beard till they had slain an
enemy.--_Motley._
7. We two had been since morn
Began her tender tunes to beat
Upon the May leaves young and sweet,
Together, planting corn.--_Alice Cary._
8. Life is not always hard, even after backs grow bent.--_Barrie._
9. Respect for woman was born in the German forests before the Roman
empire fell.--_Lord._
10. As the day advanced, the wind veered round to the north-east and
settled itself down to work.--_Aldrich._
11. When you’ve got a man thoroughly civilized you cannot do anything
more with him.--_Warner._
12. Now that her father was taken from her, she nestled to Graham, and
seemed to feel by his feelings, to exist in his existence.--_Brontë._
13. Even when they fail they are entitled to praise.--_Macaulay._
14. The house keeper waited until the sobs changed to the regular
breathing of sleep before she stole out.--_Kipling._
15. Until a man can truly enjoy a draught of clear water bubbling from
a mountain-side, his taste is in an unwholesome state.--_F. Harrison._