In English grammar, the meaning of adjunct is a word or a phrase that constitutes an optional element in a sentence or is considered of secondary importance. For example, in the sentence “we left some clothes in the dryer,” the phrase “in the dryer” is an adjunct. An adjunct can also be defined as an adverb or phrase that gives extra information in a sentence. In grammar, adjuncts are one of the five major components of the clause structure. In linguistics, an adjunct is an optional or structurally dispensable part of a sentence, a clause, or a phrase.

Adjunct and Adverbial Phrase

An adverbial phrase or adjunct is a collection of words that defines the meaning of an adjective, verb, or adverb. This works similarly with adverbs, modifying other words by analyzing why, how, where, and when an action occurred. Adverbial phrases also describe the degree of action it happened to or the condition of an action or an object. For example, in the sentence “he walked as slowly as possible,” the word “walked” is the verb, and the adverbial phrase “as slowly as possible” describes how the action was performed. Adverbial phrases don’t contain any verbs or subjects. When there is a subject and verb present, it is considered an adverbial clause. For example, in the sentence “When the rain stops, we are all going out,” the part “when the rain stops” is an adverbial clause. This group of words has no meaning on their own separately, but it describes when the subject plans to perform the task, i.e., “getting out”.

Types of Adverbial Clauses and Phrases 

The structure of an adverbial phrase or clause or adjunct completely depends on which kind of word is being modified and how it defines the meaning of the sentence. For example, in the sentence “My cat is lying under my feet,” the phrase “under my feet” describes the plan of action. Adverbial phrases of adjuncts can also act as infinitive phrases by incorporating infinitive verbs (an infinitive verb consists of the word “to” and a root verb) while describing the occurrence of an action. For example, in the sentence “I went to the market to buy some vegetables,” the adverbial phrase “to buy some vegetables” justifies the cause of the action, i.e., “went to the market.” It also describes the frequency of the action. For example, in the sentence, “I called my best friend almost every day,” the phrase “almost every day” describes the subject, i.e., “how frequently I call.” It can also overlap with prepositional phrases (phrases that contain a preposition, a noun or a pronoun, and a modifier that describes where or when the action is taking place). For example, in the sentence “I made some mango pickles during summer vacation,” the word “during” is a preposition, and “summer vacation” is a noun phrase, and together they provide great details about the time the action occurred.

Adverbial Clause

An adverbial clause is a dependent clause that functions as an adverb or describes or modifies a verb’s action. For example, in the sentence “After the rain stopped, we went outside,” the adverbial clause is “after the rain stopped” as it modifies the verb “went” by describing when the action took place. An adverbial clause always starts with a subordinating conjunction and connects to an independent clause to make complete sense. In the above-mentioned example, “after” is a subordinating conjunction, and it connects with the independent clause “we went outside” to make full sense. Another such example is in the sentence “even if I go now, I might be late for the appointment.” The clause “even if I go now” refines the verb phrase “might be late” by describing how the action occurred.

There are four types of adverbial clauses, which means that they modify the root verb by answering one of the four questions: “how,” “when,” “where,” and “why.” Some examples are mentioned below, such as

1. Where-in this case, the subordinating conjunction “where” or “wherever” is used at the beginning of the dependent clause to refine where the action happened. For example, in the sentence “wherever she went, her brother was sure to follow,” the clause describes the location of her brother.
2. When– In this case, the subordinating conjunctions used are after, as soon as, before, now that, once, till, until, and while. Thus, the clause or adjunct modifies the verb by describing when the action occurred. For example, in the sentence “I will go to the station as soon as I finish my homework,” the clause “as soon as I finish my homework” describes the time of the action.
3. How– In this case, it begins with subordinating conjunctions that answer the question of how it is done. The conjunctions used are: as, as far as, as if, as long as, as though, in so far as, in that, lest, no matter how, provided that and unless. For example, in the sentence “I will study as long as you promise that you won’t disturb me,” the clause “as long as you promise that you won’t disturb me” justifies the condition of the action.
4. Why– In this case, the subordinating conjunctions used are because, even if, even though, in that case, since, so that and why. For example, since I promised you, you can have a dog. The clause “since I trust you” justifies the reason behind the action.

Conclusion

Adjunct, adverbial phrases and clauses all refine the action of a subject and though dispensable they give sentence a structural beauty. They are of various types like- time adjuncts, place adjuncts, frequency adjuncts, manner and reason adjuncts and degree adjuncts. Adjuncts mainly use a subordinating conjunction to form a subordinate clause.