VOA慢速英语--Before Fearing Adverb Phrases, Read This

 

When you woke up this morning, you probably did at least five things before you left your home for school or work. Maybe you ate breakfast, took a shower, brushed your teeth, put on your clothes, and looked at the news or internet.

For each thing you did, you did something else before, during or after those other things. For example:

Before I ate breakfast, I did 20 minutes of yoga.

“Before I ate breakfast” is an adverb clause¹. In an earlier program, we told you about adverb clauses².

Today, we will show you how to shorten³ these clauses. Shortened⁴ adverb clauses often sound more natural and concise⁵ in English.

We call the shortened clauses “modifying adverbial phrases.” But, that name is needlessly⁶ complex for a grammar structure that is often easy for many English learners.

Listen to the example again:

Before I ate breakfast, I did 20 minutes of yoga.

Here is how we shorten it:

Before eating breakfast, I did 20 minutes of yoga.

Two things are different: we removed the subject “I” and changed “ate” to the -ing form “eating.”

Notice that we only reduced the adverb clause, not the main clause; the main clause -- “I did 20 minutes of yoga” – stays the same.

And, here’s something you may recall from an earlier program: an adverb clause or phrase need not appear before the main clause of a sentence. That means “I did 20 minutes of yoga before eating breakfast” has the same meaning as “Before eating breakfast, I did 20 minutes of yoga.”

There are three types of adverb clauses that can be reduced: time, cause and effect and contrast.

Time clauses

Not all time clauses can be reduced. They must begin with certain time words, like before, after, while, when, since or as soon as.

OK, now test your knowledge on our next example, using while. Listen:

While I was listening to the news, I made a cup of tea.

How can we reduce this clause? Here’s how:

While listening to the news, I made a cup of tea.

So, what's different? Again, we removed the subject. And, this example contains “was,” so we removed it also. In modifying adverbial phrases, we omit forms of be. The verb “listen” is already in -ing form, so we did not change it.

Sometimes, we can even remove the word “while” in a time clause and still express its meaning, which is “during the same time.” Listen:

Listening to the news, I made a cup of tea.

This option is, however, less common, except in some forms of writing.

Cause & effect clauses

Next up are cause and effect adverb clauses. These clauses begin with words like “because” or “since” and express the cause or reason for something; the main clause gives the result.

Here is an example:

Because she needed to study for the exam, she stayed at the library.

To reduce this, we remove the cause word: “because.” And, again, we remove the subject (“she”) and we change the verb “needed” to the ‘ing form, “needing.”

Needing to study for the exam, she stayed at the library.

But, what if the cause and effect clause contains the present perfect verb tense? Listen to an example:

Because he had been to that museum before, he didn’t want to go again.

And here’s how we reduce it:

Having been to that museum before, he didn’t want to go again.

We removed the word “because” and the subject “he.” And, we changed the present perfect “had been” to “having been.”

Contrast clauses

Finally, we have contrast clauses. These clauses begin with words like “though,” “although” and “despite.” They express an unexpected result between information in the adverb clause and main clause.

Here's an example:

Though he was tired, Joe gave us a ride to the game.

And, when we reduce it:

Though tired, Joe gave us a ride to the game.

Did you notice what changed? For contrast clauses, we keep the contrast word--in this case, "though." But again, we remove the subject. And we remove “was,” a form of be.

Why is the subject removable?

So, how can the meaning of a sentence be clear if we remove the subject from the adverb clause? Because the subject of the adverb clause and the subject of the main clause are the same. If the subjects are different, the adverb clause cannot be reduced. Just for fun, listen to an example of such:

While I was biking to work, a squirrel⁷ jumped into the street.

The subject of the adverb clause is “I” and the subject of the main clause is “squirrel.”

And it reduces to this:

While biking to work, a squirrel jumped into the street.

But that is silly! Squirrels⁸ do not ride bikes or have jobs!

Well, that’s all the time we have today. Having read this story, do you want to try reducing adverb clauses?

We hope so.

I’m Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

yoga – n. a system of exercises for mental and physical health

concise – adj. not including extra or unnecessary information

modifying – adj. making partial or minor⁹ changes to something

phrase – n. a group of two or more words that express a single idea but do not usually form a complete sentence

squirrel – n. a small animal with a long tail and soft fur that lives in trees

1 clause   

n.（正式文件或法律文件的）条款，从句，分句

参考例句：

• The sentence consists of a main clause and a subordinate clause.这句中有一个主句和一个从句。
• What clause do you require in the contract?你要求在合同中订上什么条款？

2 clauses   

从句( clause的名词复数 )； （法律文件等的）条款

参考例句：

• Relative pronouns and adverbs introduce attributive clauses. 关系代词和关系副词引导定语从句。
• Please underline the noun clauses in the passage. 请用线画出短文中的名词性从句。

3 shorten   

vt.弄短，缩小，减少

参考例句：

• Minor accidents can shorten the life of a car.小事故会缩短汽车寿命。
• My dress is too long I must shorten it.我的连衣裙太长了，我得把它截短些。

4 shortened   

v.弄短，缩短( shorten的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She shortened the skirt by an inch. 她把裙子缩短了一英寸。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Vacations have lengthened and the work week has shortened. 假期延长，工作周就缩短了。 来自辞典例句

5 concise   

adj.简洁的，简明的

参考例句：

• The explanation in this dictionary is concise and to the point.这部词典里的释义简明扼要。
• I gave a concise answer about this.我对于此事给了一个简要的答复。

6 needlessly   

adv.不需要地，不必要地

参考例句：

• Thousands of children in the world today suffer needlessly. 当今世界有成千上万的儿童遭受着不必要的痛苦。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Yet they were built on stilts, quite needlessly. 半山上也用吊脚楼形式，这形式是必须的吗？ 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

7 squirrel   

n.松鼠，松鼠的毛皮；vt.贮藏以备用

参考例句：

• The squirrel makes a store of nuts for the winter.松鼠贮藏坚果以备过冬。
• A squirrel hoards nuts for the winter.松鼠为过冬贮藏坚果。

8 squirrels   

n.松鼠( squirrel的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Squirrels are arboreal creatures. 松鼠是栖于树上的动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Red squirrels are now very rare in Britain. 红色松鼠在英国已十分罕见了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。