Douglas Adams
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Editor: Douglas Adams |
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Time subordinators:
Moreover, each of the subs in the second group share the common time relationship of the action in the independent clause happening before the action in the dependent clause. In the example... Before Tom got sick, he ate at McBurgers. ...the action in the independent clause [he ate at McBurgers] happened first while the action in the dependent clause [Tom got sick] happened second. IC = first DC = second This relationship holds true for all the subordinators in group two. That said, there are some variations between the members of this group that are worthwhile exploring. By the time: Basically, by the time and before have the same time relationship as can be seen in the example below... By the time/Before Tom got home, his stomach had been spinning. However, by the time is almost always used with a perfect tense in the independent clause. Thus,... By the time Tom reached the bathroom, his burger began to return. ...would be considered incorrect [at least prescriptively], while... By the time Tom reached the bathroom, his burger had begun to return. ...would be considered correct. [Descriptively, this distinction is less important.] The only exception to this pattern is when we use the be verb as can be seen in the following example: By the time Tom reached the bathroom, it was too late. It's also the same for present and future situations too... By the time Jessica gets home, Tom will have cleaned up the bathroom. Importantly though, by the time is different from before in that the action in the independent clause has to have finished. Thus... By the time Tom got home, he was riding the bus. ...would not be correct because it sounds like he was still riding the bus when he got home. Compare this to... Before Tom got home, he was riding the bus. *Note: For more explanation on By the time vs. Before, see: By the Time vs. Before Until: Until is similar to before in that the action in the independent clause happens first, but they do have one important difference that can be seen in the sentences below. Tom will work at McBurger until he dies. Tom will work at McBurger before he dies. Until carries the additional meaning that the action will happen continuously and then stop while this is not necessarily the case with before. With before, maybe Tom will work at McBurgers for a week sometime in his life prior to his death. It does not imply that this will be his career for the rest of his life. Next up... Group three time subordinators. |
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http://www.tesltimes.org |
