Unit 10:＜ Practicing basic types of embedding II ＞

Kevin Chen

I. Adverbial clauses (when, if , because, etc)

• Adverbial clauses are the subordinate clauses that functions as an adverb within a main clause, modifying the main or independent clauses. Adverbial clauses are usually introduced by adverbial conjunctions such as when, because, if.

Types of adverb clause

Type Clause introduced by…

Examples

Time

When, whenever, before, after, until, while, since, as

After the crop is harvested, it is sold at the market.

Place Where, wherever

Wherever there are computers, there is component

made in Taiwan.

Cause

Because, since, in order that

I didn’t tell her because I wanted to keep the secret.

Types of adverb clause

Type

Clause introduced by… Examples

Purpose So that

She took a English course so that she could get a better job.

Concession

Although, though, even thoug

h

Although Jane has a Master’s degree, she works as a store clerk.

Condition

If, , unless, whether

If you save your money, you will be able to go to college.

II. Appositions

• An appositive is another word for something named elsewhere in the sentence. It is another name for some noun. Some appositives need commas to show its position and the nouns they refer—called interrupting modifiers, while some need dashes or colons, which summarize the appositives, and the subject-verb combination for the main clause.

Appositions: Examples

• Commas—after the comma, to modify or having the same meaning with its antecedent

• Leica has faced up to the digital world with its M8, a camera blessed with the spirit of Oskar Barnack.

• The series celebrates its first decade as popular as ever and without having disclosed any higher meaning to Bikini Bottom, the name of the underwater city where it takes place.

Appositions: Examples

• Commas—interrupting modifiers between S and V

• Donuts and chocolate bars, popular breakfast foods, contain little nutrition.

• Typewriters, once common in schools and offices, are rarely seen or used now.

• A small drop of ink, falling (as Byron said) like dew upon a thought, can make millions think.

Appositions: Examples• Dash—an internal series of appositive• Hawaiians, Filipinos, Japanese, Chinese—these

ethnic groups make up much of Hawaii’s diverse population. 【 appositive before a dash 】

• What do you think caused the American Revolution—the tea tax, or the growing sense of being a new and independent nation? 【 appositive after a dash 】

• Pandas eat only one food—bamboo shoots. 【 appositive after a dash 】

• The much –despised predators—mountain lions and timber wolves—have been shot, trapped, and poisoned. 【 appositive in middle 】

Appositions: Examples

• Colon—emphatic appositive at end• Examples:• Her room contained a collection of trash:

old clothes, soda cans, McDonald’s wrappers.

• Airport thieves have a common target: unwary travelers.

III. Participial phrases (-ing, -ed)

• Past participles are sometimes used as adjectives, either before or after the nouns they describe. A participial phrase often modifies its antecedents—a noun—to avoid two verbs.

• There are four people living in my house.• The church built by I. M. Pei has become a p

opular tourist spot. • I sent a registered letter.• I sent a letter registered on September 12th.• A frozen daiquiri is tasty.• A daiquiri frozen properly is tasty.※A participial phrase at the beginning of a

sentence must refer to the grammatical subject.

Participial phrases (-ing, -ed): Examples

• Walking down the street, she saw a man accompanied by two gunmen.

• She saw a man, accompanied by two gunmen, walking down the street.

• Young and inexperienced, the task seemed easy to me. 【 X 】

• Young and inexperienced, I thought the task easy. 【 O 】

• Without a friend to counsel him, the temptation proved irresistible. 【 X 】

• Without a friend to counsel him, he found the temptation irresistible. 【 O 】