The term Time Clause is usually used for adverbial subordinate clauses which link an event in that clause to another event in the main clause in a time relationship. They answer the question when? Time clauses cannot stand alone except as an answer to a question.
- Mary made lunch after she had done the shopping.
- When did Mary make lunch?
- After she had done the shopping.
Time clauses start with a conjunction -
when, whenever, while, once, before, after, as, (ever) since, until, as soon as, now (that), the moment (that)
The time clause can come before or after the main clause. When it comes before, it is usually followed by a comma. But if the main course comes first, no comma is used.
- After she had done the shopping, Mary made lunch.
- Mary made lunch after she had done the shopping.
Mainly through the use of exercises, this post deals with:
- Time clauses - which conjunction to use
- The use of tenses in time clauses
- Reducing time clauses
- Other clauses that express a time relationship
