CHAPTER IX
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.