The lecture lasted two hours.
c) After transitive verbs implying direction, such as to put, to take, to send.
Put the book on the shelf.
Take these letters to the post-office.
d) After intransitive verbs of motion and position in space, such as
to come, to go, to arrive, to return, to step, to sit, to lie, to stand.
Brett went to the dressing-room.
Robert was standing at the window.
The absolute use of the above verbs, that is without adverbials, is possible if the speaker is interested in the process itself or if the use of an adverbial is unnecessary because of the situation.
He was too weak to stand.
Everybody has come.
e) When an adverbial influences the meaning of a verb form .
I am going to the library to-morrow, (‘am going’ denotes intention, not an action).
f) When its absence changes the measing of the rest of the sentence.
Can you speak English without making mistakes?
I’ve never been there since my childhood.
Non-obligatory adverbials are those which are not necessary for the structure of the sentence. They neither influence the meaning of the verb form, nor change the structure or the meaning of the rest of the sentence, no matter how important they are from the communicative viewpoint.
She left the room without saying a word.
Before speaking he pressed the bell at his side.
§ 96. Detached adverbials being more loosely related to the modified parts of the sentence than non-detached adverbials are never obligatory. They are separated from the rest of the sentence by intonation in speaking and by commas in writing. Detachment of adverbials may be caused by various factors, the most important of which are their meaning, the form of expression, their extension, their position in the sentence, or the speaker’s desire for emphasis. Owing to their structure and meaning, absolute constructions are nearly always detached:
Wesley saw the boat, its decks deserted.
Participial phrases as adverbials also tend to be detached.
She then returned to her place, not having spoken another word.
Adverbials are detached when they are placed m an unusual position, as in the following examples:
Like him, she saw danger in it.
Randall, for all his tiresomeness and badness, had always been her Randall.
Any adverbial may be detached if the speaker wishes to emphasize its meaning.
“He was her father,” said Frances Wilmot, gravely.
Ways of expressing adverbial modifiers
§ 97. Adverbials are grouped according to their structure (ways of expression) and their meaning. There is no one-to-one correspondence between these two groupings, though we may observe certain tendencies in the ways of expressing this or that kind of adverbial modifier.
An adverbial modifier may be expressed by:
1. An adverb (sometimes preceded by a preposition).
Jane sings beautifully.
George is always busy.
The ship sailed east.
2. An adverbial phrase, with an adverb as headword.
We met ten years ago and parted two years later.
They worked till late at night.
3. A noun, pronoun or numeral preceded by a preposition or prepositional nominal phrase.
A dim light was burning in the archway under the inner gate.
Beyond it Mr Watson could see the outer gate.
Behind him he could hear Kirstie sobbing.
We met in 1975.
Classes begin on the first of September.
4. A noun without a preposition or a non-prepositional noun phrase, the latter usually containing such words as this, that, every, last, next.
Wait a minute!
Come this way, please.
We meet every day.
5. A non-finite verb form:
a) a gerund or a gerundial phrase.
Remember to open the window before doing your morning exercises.
One day, on returning to his hotel, he found a note in his room.
b) an infinitive or an infinitive phrase.
The problem is too difficult to solve.
We’ve come here to ask you a favour.
c) a participle or a participial phrase.
Sighing, Betty returned to the kitchen.
Pounding the house, they entered a quiet, walled garden.
6. A predicative complex:
a) a gerundial construction.
Are you angry because of my being late?
b) a for-to-infinitive construction.
The problem is too difficult for a child to solve.
c) a non-prepositional or prepositional absolute construction.
The meal over, they went to the fuel store.
There having been no rain, the earth was dry.
Earphones on, Fred sat alone in Ivor’s room.
I don’t want to quarrel with the children listening.
7. An adjective, an adverb, a participle, a noun, a prepositional phrase, an infinitive, an infinitive or participial phrase introduced by a conjunction.
I’ll come earlier if necessary.
Her conduct when there was most unaccountable.
When argued with, Ida had one answer.
As a little girl she used to make daisy-chains.
I began to wonder whether he'd manage to give an interview while still in his right mind.
He quickly did this, and while doing it dropped his umbrella.
As if to bring matters to a focus, Tess’s father was heard approaching at that moment.
8. A Clause (as part of a complex sentence).
Won’t you stay till the rain stops?
We stayed at home because it rained.
Structural classification of the adverbial modifier
§ 98. From the point of view of its structure the adverbial modifier, may be simple, phrasal, complex, clausal.
We started early.
We started at five in the morning.
John sat with his elbows on the table and his hands clasped.
When the cat is away, the mice will play.
Semantic characteristics of the adverbial modifier
§ 99. Semantically adverbials denote place, time, manner, cause, purpose, result, condition, concession, attendant circumstances, comparison, degree, measure, exception, thus forming semantic classes, such as adverbials of place, time, etc.
The semantic class of an adverbial may be identified directly (absolutely) or indirectly (relatively). It is identified directly by lexical meaning of the word or phrase used as an adverbial, as in:
I saw him yesterday. (time)
She spoke in a loud voice. (manner)
In other cases the semantic type is identified relatively, that is, only through the relationship of the adverbial to the modified part of the sentence, as is often the case with participles, infinitives, and some prepositional phrases. Thus the phrase with fear functions as an adverbial of manner in the sentence She spoke with fear and as an adverbial of reason in the sentence She shook with fear. The phrase Walking along the track to Buckmaster’s denotes motion in some direction, but in the sentence Walking along the track towards Buckmaster’s Bowen burst into song it acquires temporal meaning and serves as an adverbial of time.
In the majority of cases, an identifying question may help to distinguish between adverbial modifiers from the semantic point of view. When? suggests time, where? - place, in what case? - condition, etc. However, it is not always possible to find an identifying question for every adverbial. Sometimes one and the same question word may correspond to different kinds of adverbials. Thus how? may suggest manner, comparison and degree. On the other hand such adverbials as those of result and attendant circumstances have no corresponding question words.
Semantic classes of adverbial modifiers
The adverbial of place
§ 100. This adverbial expresses:
a) Place proper.
John was born in Australia, but lives in England.
b) Direction or destination.
He moved to Australia in 1975.
c) Distance.
He lives far from his parents.
The identifying questions are where? for place proper, where to? where from? - for direction, where? how far? - for distance.
The adverbial of time
§ 101. The adverbial of time has four variations:
a) The adverbial of time proper denotes the time of some event. It may be expressed in almost all the ways enumerated in § 97.
We shall meet tomorrow.
Ten days later she returned.
When angry count a hundred.
b) The adverbial of frequency indicates how often the event denoted by the predicate takes place. It is mostly placed before the notional part of the predicate (if it is expressed by an adverb).
I am always careful.
We often see each other.
Does he ever visit museums? - Once in a blue moon.
He calls me from time to time.
We have a get-together every year.
Adverbials of frequency are expressed by adverbs and adverbial phrases.
c) The adverbial of duration indicates the period of time during which some event takes place. They are often expressed by prepositional phrases with prepositions for, during, since, till, until. The preposition since denotes the starting point and the preposition till/until - the final point of some period.
Have you been there long? - A couple of hours.
They want to rest (for) a day or two.
The sun gives us light during the day.
We are to wait till the end of the exam.
This has been going on since our arrival.
He lived to be ninety.
Note:
The preposition for is optional after the verbs of duration.
d) The adverbial of time relationship presents the idea of time as related to some other event in time. This adverbial is expressed by such adverbs as still, yet, already, at last, before, after, by a noun, a gerund, or a prepositional phrase with the prepositions by, before, after.
Thus the sentence It was still raining implies that it had been raining for some time before.
He hasn’t given his consent yet means that up to now we do not know anything about his consent.
The train has left already means that it has left by this time.
He graduated at last suggests after a long time or delay.
Here are some other examples of adverbial of time relationship:
Promise to come back by the end of the week.
We’ll see about it after classes.
Before answering the Boss stepped back to the chair and sank into it.
The same relationship can be seen in sentences with participial phrases, as in:
Arthur, having read the letter twice, put it in an envelope. (After he had read the letter twice...)
The adverbial of manner
§ 102. The adverbial of manner characterizes the action of the verb by indicating the way it is performed or by what means it is achieved. The identifying questions are how? in what way? by what means?
Adverbials of manner are mainly expressed by adverbs or prepositional phrases (including gerundial phrases) introduced by the prepositions with, without, by, by means of, or with the help of, the latter three suggesting means.
Hooper danced badly, but energetically.
She walked with short quick steps.
You begin learning a language by listening to the new sounds.
Thoughts are expressed by means of (with the help of) words.
Adverbials of manner may also be expressed by participial phrases and absolute constructions.
I looked up again and saw that coming from the door behind Palmer, she had entered the room.
She said the last words with a voice lowered.
Some adverbials of manner border on the instrumental object in cases like the following:
He opened the tin with a knife.
The identifying questions are either How did he open the tin? or What did he open the tin with?
The adverbial of cause (reason)
§ 103. The identifying questions, of this adverbial are why? for what reason? because of what? due to what? Adverbials of reason are expressed by prepositional nominal phrases, participial and infinitive phrases, sometimes by absolute constructions.
Most prepositions of reason are composite and the causal meaning of the phrase, and thus of the adverbial modifier, is due to the meaning of the preposition, for example, because of, due to, owing to, on account of, for the reason of, thanks to and some others.
You mean you’ve failed because of me?
The accident happened owing to bad driving.
Thanks to my parents I got a decent education.
A number of polysemantic prepositions acquire causal meaning when combined with nouns denoting a psychological or physical state.
She couldn’t speak for happiness (anger, fear, joy).
She cried out of fear (anger).
She did it out of pity (spite).
Many people have come here from curiosity.
He was trembling with hatred.
Participial phrases and nominative absolute constructions are freely used as adverbials of reason, most often with the verb to be and verbs of feeling, wish, or mental perception.
I was happy just being with him.
Wanting a cigarette, I took out my case.
There being nothing else to do, we went home.
The adverbial of purpose
§ 104. This adverbial answers the identifying questions what for? for what purpose? It is most frequently expressed by an infinitive, an infinitive phrase or complex.
Jane has come to help us.
I’ve repeated my words for you to remember them.
The meaning of purpose may be emphasized by the composite prepositions in order or so as, which are never used before an infinitive complex.
We must go early in order not to be late.
We hurried so as not to be late.
The adverbial of purpose may also be expressed by a noun, a prepositional phrase, nominal or gerundial, introduced by the preposition for.
We reserved this table for lunch.
We use the thermometer for measuring temperature.
After the imperative of the verbs to go and to come another imperative is preferable to the infinitive, as in:
Go and help him. (Not Go to help him.)
Come and wash up. (Not Come to wash up.)
The use is optional for the verb to see.
Come to see me, or Come and see me.
Go to see him, or Go and see him.
The adverbial of result (consequence)
§ 105. The adverbial of result has no identifying questions. It refers to an adjective, a noun with qualitative meaning, or an adverb accompanied by an adverb of degree, such as too, enough, sufficiently, so... (as). The adverbial of result is expressed by an infinitive, an infinitive phrase, or complex.
It is too cold to go out.
The lecturer spoke slowly enough for us to take down everything he said.
He was fool enough to believe it.
John was so fortunate as to get the first prize.
He felt he was enough of a citizen of the world not to mind it.
The adverbial of degree too signals a negative result, enough suggests the necessary amount of quality to perform the action. The correlative phrase so... as implies a realized action, unlike the phrase so as before adverbials of purpose suggesting a hypothetical event. Compare these sentences:
John was so fortunate as to get the first prize (and he got it) - result.
John trained hours so as to get the first prize for boating (we do not know whether he has got it or not) –
purpose.
The adverbial of condition
§ 106. The identifying questions are in what case? or on what condition? The adverbial of condition is generally expressed by a noun or a pronoun, or by a prepositional phrase (nominal or sometimes gerundial) with the prepositions but for, except for, without.