Adverbial clauses, linkers and conjunctions

What Are Adverbial Clauses?
“An adverbial clause is a group of words which does what an adverb does.”

Adverbial clauses (like all clauses) contain a subject and a verb. For example:

“I eat dark chocolate daily.”
(normal adverb)

“I’m going to eat dark chocolate until you tell me to stop.”
(adverbial clause = “until you tell me to stop”)

More examples:

I never knew how wonderful life could be until I started podcasting.

I’ll let you know as soon as I publish this episode.

Now that we’ve eaten, we can have some of that chocolate cake.

Adverbial clauses don’t have to speak about time. They can also be about contrast, cause and effect, condition etc.

Contrast: I had some chocolate cake even though I was full. (even though = aunque)

Cause and effect: I’ve put on weight this month because I’ve been eating so much cake.

Condition: I’m not going to Disneyland unless you come with me. (unless = a menos que, a no ser que)

More linkers:

In spite of / Despite – “I bought an iphone in spite of the price.” (in spite of/despite = a pesar de)
They go at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence.
“Reza arrived on time despite / in spite of missing the bus”
Instead of (en vez de, en lugar de)
“This year we’re having roast lamb for Christmas dinner instead of turkey.”
Although (aunque) / though / even though / in spite of the fact that (a pesar de que) – “Although/Even though/Though I was full, I had another piece of cake.”

“Even though” is more emphatic than “although”.

“Though” can also go at the end of a second sentence in informal English:

These connectors are followed by a complete sentence. They can be placed at the beginning or in the middle of the sentence. If they are at the beginning we put a comma after the clause.

“I had another piece of cake, although I was full.”

“In spite of the fact that the neighbours were making a noise, we decided to record this podcast.”

“Reza loves Berta. She rarely thinks about him, though.”

“I’m sorry, we don’t have any chocolate cake. We’ve got some biscuits, though.”

However (sin embargo) / nevertheless/nonetheless (no obstante) / even so (aun así)
At/Near – Used the start of a second sentence:

“I was really tired. Even so, I decided to go out for a beer.” (sin embargo, aun así)

“Craig’s on a diet. However, he can’t lose any weight.”

“I didn’t like the price. Nevertheless/Nonetheless, I bought it.”

Or at the end of a second sentence in informal English:
“I didn’t like the price. I bought it, nonetheless.”

While / whereas (mientras que)
In the middle or at the start of a sentence:
“Our last podcast was really interesting, whereas/while this one is a bit boring.”
“While/whereas the last podcast was really interesting, this one is a bit boring:”

On the one hand / on the other hand (por un lado / por el otro lado)
Links two contrasting ideas. “On the one hand” can be omitted:
(On the one hand,) I think that technology has helped society in the areas of health, work, education etc. On the other hand we might be too dependant on technology and maybe to addicted to it as well.

On the contrary – al contrario
Some people say that people can’t change. On the contrary, I think they can!

We can use linkers to add information:

Moreover (además) / furthermore / besides (además) / in addition (to) (además (de)) / as well as (además de) / apart from (aparte de) / what’s more (además; lo que es más, y encima) / on top of that (además) / as well = too (también) – used at the end of a sentence

“In addition to jazz music, Craig also likes rap.”
Besides music and podcasting, what other hobbies do you have at the moment? – It’s a nice day for a walk, and besides, I need the exercise.
I think you owe me an apology. Furthermore, you need to apologise to my wife.
Your company did not inform us of the building work in the hotel. Moreover, no compensation was offered.
Juan was at the meeting, as well as Sara and Maria.
‘Apart from Spanish, Reza also speaks French”.
“He’s ugly and what’s more, he’s not very nice.”
“What a day! First I woke up late, then the car wouldn’t start, and on top of that, I dropped my phone and broke it.”
She likes tea. She likes coffee as well/too.
We can use linkers to show consequences and results:

As a result (of) (debido a,como resultado, como consecuencia) / therefore (por lo tanto, por eso) / consequently, as a consequence (en consecuencia, y entonces, y por eso) / for this reason

“Reza and I work very hard on this podcast. As a result, it’s becoming one of the most popular learning English podcasts in itunes.”
“I think, therefore I am.” – pienso, luego existo
“I wanted it; consequently, I bought it.”
“I don’t think I can help you develop this product, and for this reason I’m out.” – Shark tank

We can also use linkers to show reasons and causes:

Because (of) (a causa de, debido a) / as / since / seeing that / on account of / due to (debido a) / due to the fact that (debido a que) / owing to / owing to the fact that

As/Since/Because Craig loves Mickey Mouse (clause), he wants to visit Disney Land, Orlando.
Because of Craig’s love for Mickey Mouse (noun phrase, not clause), he wants to visit Disney Land, Orlando.
“Because of / on account of / owing to / due to our sponsor, italki we are able to continue with this podcast.”

Compare:

“We didn’t record podcasts yesterday due to* work.”
“We didn’t record podcasts yesterday due to the fact that* we were both working.”

(*also owing to and owing to the fact that)

“As / Since / Seeing that we’re hungry, we should break for lunch now.”

In order to = a more formal version of INFINITIVE / so as to
Theses conjunctions explain the purpose of something. They are more common in written English.
Reza and I started this podcast (in order) to help you improve your English.

All the same (de todas formas, a pesar de todo)
“They offered to pay me 30 euros per hour, but I turned down the job all the same.”

We can use some linking words to show the order and sequence of things

First of all / Firstly / To begin with / To start with / In the first place (en primer lugar, antes que nada)
Second / Secondly (en segundo lugar)
Third / Thirdly (en tercer lugar)
After that / Then (después de eso, después) / Next (luego)
Finally, Lastly (por fin, por último, finalmente)
Last but not least (por último, si bien no menos importante)

Linkers for summarizing

In short / To sum up / In conclusion (en resumen, para concluir, resumir)
All in all (en suma)
In brief (en resumen)
In short (en resumen)
On the whole (en general)

*Dispones de más PODCAST en inglés publicados en los cuadernos anteriores
a los que puedes acceder directamente así como al índice de su contenido.