 Being more concise in writing, reducing adverbial clauses. This lesson will help you learn how to eliminate unnecessary words in English writing. The topic for this lesson is reducing adverbial clauses. For related topics, please see reducing adjective clauses or relative clauses and absolute phrases. Here's an overview of what you will see in this lesson. What are adverbial clauses? What can be reduced? To be or not to be, checking for verbs, a word of caution, dangling modifiers, various positions. Reducing clauses enables you to eliminate unnecessary words. That's called wordiness. This process helps you tighten your language and make it more concise. But you need to be careful. Reducing clauses is like dynamite. It can be very powerful if used correctly. It can also destroy your writing if you don't use it right. What are adverbial clauses? Adverbial clauses are combined with full sentences until, when, time, where, place, or location, why, reason, how, manner, how often, frequency, how long, duration, condition, if, contrast, or concession, and some other things. Let's look at some examples. Here are some adverbial clauses. After he finishes work, Cody goes home. If he is not feeling well, Cody goes home. Because he feels tired, Cody goes home. The adverbial clause here comes at the beginning of the sentence and tells the reason, when, or the condition under which Cody goes home. The reduced adverbial clauses take out some of those words and make them shorter. For example, after finishing work, if not feeling well, feeling tired. What can be reduced? Not all adverbial clauses can be reduced. We will mainly look at those dealing with time, condition, and contrast. Key words to look for, when, before, after, if, although, because, and sometimes, since, to be or not to be, checking for verbs. One of the first things you need to look for is a be verb in the adverbial clause. For example, while I was cleaning my house, there is a be verb here. It's the word was. Before I left for Connecticut, there is no be verb in this one. The subordinator is the extra word that signals time, reason, condition, etc. The presence of a be verb will determine how you reduce the clause. Reducing adverbial clauses. Most of the time, the subject and be verb following the subordinator can be deleted or eliminated. For example, while I was mopping the floor, I slipped and sprained my ankle. We can reduce that too, while mopping the floor, I slipped and sprained my ankle. If it is necessary, we will pay for the extra features. That can be reduced to, if necessary, we will pay for the extra features. Although he was young, Allen was extremely intelligent. That can be reduced to, although young, Allen was extremely intelligent. If there is no be verb, you may sometimes delete the subject and change the verb to its ing form. This works mainly with time clauses, with after, before, while, and when. For example, after Pam cleaned the kitchen, she sat down and had dinner. That can be reduced to, after cleaning the kitchen, Pam sat down and had dinner. With because clauses, you can also delete the subordinator. For example, because he felt sleepy, Sam went to bed early. We can take out the because and change the main verb to its ing form. So the resulting clause is reduced to feeling sleepy, Sam went to bed early. A word of caution. In most cases, the subjects of two clauses must match before you can delete one of them. For example, while I was taking a shower, I got a call from my grandmother. I was taking a shower, I got a call, that's the same subject. We can reduce it to, while taking a shower, I got a call from my grandmother. Now look at the next example. While I was taking a shower, my grandmother called. Here we have two different subjects, I and my grandmother. If we change it to, while taking a shower, my grandmother called. That's incorrect. It changes the meaning. That means my grandmother was taking a shower and she called me. Sometimes this is referred to as a dangling modifier. Try to avoid doing that when reducing adverbial clauses. Now let's look at various positions of the clauses. There are some positions of phrases, clauses, and reduced clauses, so you can see how it all fits together. There are three positions that we're going to look at in the sentence. The introductory position, which is at the beginning of the sentence. The final position, which is at the end of the sentence, and later we'll talk about the intermediary position, which is in the middle of the sentence. In English, we can move some of these words, phrases, and clauses around. For example, we'll start with something very simple. After work, I had a nice dinner. Notice that there's a simple prepositional phrase at the beginning of the sentence. We can also do this with an adverbial clause. After I came home from work, I had a nice dinner. So with an adverbial clause, you have the subordinator plus a subject and verb. We can reduce it to, after coming home from work, I had a nice dinner. The reduced adverbial clause has a subordinator plus the verb ing. Now if we put it in the final position at the end of the sentence, it might look something like this. I had a nice dinner after work. I had a nice dinner after I came home from work. I had a nice dinner after coming home from work. Let's look at what happens when we put it in the middle of the sentence, what I call intermediary position. This is one that deals with time or when. For example, Mr. Benson during lunch likes to sit outside. During lunch is a prepositional phrase. Next, Mr. Benson while he has lunch likes to sit outside. That's an adverbial clause. Mr. Benson while having lunch likes to sit outside. That's a reduced adverbial clause. Here's another example telling how. Ms. Jones with her dog strolls through the park. That's a prepositional phrase in the middle. Ms. Jones as she walks her dog strolls through the park. That's an adverbial clause. Ms. Jones walking her dog strolls through the park. That's a reduced adverbial clause. Now let's compare some of the positions. Introductory at the beginning, intermediary in the middle, and final at the end. Okay, we'll use the same adverbial clause in three different positions. For example, when he has time, Scott visits his grandmother. Scott, when he has time, visits his grandmother. Scott visits his grandmother when he has time. The punctuation is very important when you use these different positions for adverbial clauses. Let's look at the examples. When he has time, comma, Scott visits his grandmother. The comma comes after the introductory clause or phrase. Scott, when he has time, visits his grandmother. Notice that the comma comes before and after the adverbial clause. Finally, Scott visits his grandmother when he has time. If the clause comes at the end of the sentence, there is no comma necessary. To review, to make your writing more concise, one thing you can do is reduce adverbial clauses of time, contrast, and condition. Here's a step-by-step process. Make sure the subjects of the clauses match. Check for a B-verb. For example, while he was running, Bob hurt his leg. The B-verb is was. If there is a B-verb, delete it along with the subject of the clause. For example, while running, Bob hurt his leg. If there is no B-verb, change the verb to its I-N-G form and delete the subject. For example, after she left, Jenny remembered her cell phone. We can reduce that too. After leaving, Jenny remembered her cell phone. Here's some more information for clauses with because. When reducing adverbial clauses with because, you may also delete the subordinator. For example, because he arrived late, Jed missed the boat. We can reduce that to arriving late, Jed missed the boat. Here's a variation with a negative word. Because I didn't want to wake up my wife, I tiptoed into the room. We can reduce that to not wanting to wake up my wife, I tiptoed into the room. Now, you try it. Reduce the following adverbial clauses. If you can't reduce them, say, can't reduce. Take a few minutes and think about it. If you would like more time for this exercise, please pause the video. Here's the answer key. Number one. While Andy was driving home, he had an accident. That can be reduced too. While driving home, Andy had an accident. Number two. After Jan finished dinner, Perry came over to visit. We can't reduce that one. Why? Because the subjects are different. Jan and Perry are two different people. Number three. Because I live in Canton, I often travel to Cleveland. That can be reduced to living in Canton, I often travel to Cleveland. Number four. If you are finished with the project, you may go home. That one can be reduced to if finished with the project, you may go home. Five. When my son misbehaves, I send him to his room. We can't reduce that one because the subjects, my son and I, are different. Although he was scared, Colin entered the spooky room. We can reduce that to although scared, Colin entered the spooky room. Number seven. Before you buy that computer, think about the cost. Now notice that the subject, you, is not spoken in the main clause here, but it is understood. So we can say something like this. Before buying that computer, think about the cost. Hope that was helpful. If you liked this video or learned from it, please give us a thumbs up in the comments section below. And remember to subscribe to our channel. Thanks for watching. If you have ideas for our next video, please let us know at the link below.