Have a look at the adverb clause in these sentences:
Because I didn’t have breakfast, I had little energy to continue past noon.
Because he wanted to improve his health, John started exercising every morning.
She joined the gym because her doctor recommended regular exercise.
Don’t all three adverb clauses seem to convey reason for what happens elsewhere in the sentence? They do. That’s why all three can be broadly termed as adverb clause of reason. But when looked narrowly, they’re adverb clauses of cause, reason, and motivation, respectively. We’ll understand the difference between the three in this post.
All three are introduced mainly by subordinating conjunctions because, since, and as. Let’s take each.
Learn more: This post covers just one adverb clause. Learn other types of adverb clause.
Adverb clause of cause
The adverb clause expresses cause; the matrix clause expresses the effect of that cause. (Here, matrix clause is what’s left after removing the adverb clause: In the first example below, I had little energy to continue past noon is the matrix clause.) In cause-effect relationship, cause leads to effect almost inevitably as it happens in a natural, objective phenomenon. Examples:
Because I didn’t have breakfast, I had little energy to continue past noon.
[Not eating breakfast (cause) will lead to depletion of energy (effect). There no two opinions about it. There is no subjectivity about it.]
Because the storm was severe, the power went out for several hours.
As he didn’t study for the test, he didn’t perform well. [Not studying (cause) led to poor performance (effect).]
The plants thrived since they received plenty of sunlight and water. [Plenty of sunlight and water (cause) led to thriving of plants (effect).]
Because the road was icy, multiple accidents were reported.
Adverb clause of reason
The adverb clause expresses reason; the matrix clause expresses the consequence of that reason. Reason doesn’t lead to consequence as it happens in a natural, objective phenomenon. Reason-consequence relationship depends on an individual’s interpretation of the situation.
To make the distinction between cause and reason clearer, we say Smoking is the leading cause (not reason) of lung cancer because smoking leading to lung cancer is a well-established, objective connection.
Examples:
Because he wanted to improve his health, John started exercising every morning.
[Reason: John wanted to improve his health. Consequence: he started exercising every morning. Can we treat John wanting to improve health as cause? No.]
Since she needed more experience in the field, Maria volunteered at the local animal shelter.
They switched to a vegetarian diet because their child developed food allergies.
She cooked a large meal because her family was coming over for dinner.
Adverb clause of motivation
The adverb clause expresses motivation; the matrix clause expresses the result of that motivation. Motivation is understood as intention of a living being. In layperson’s language, the adverb clause expresses something said to you by someone that motivates you to take an action. Examples:
She joined the gym because her doctor recommended regular exercise. [Motivation: my doctor’s recommendation to exercise regularly. Result: joining the gym]
He took a first aid course because his employer mandated the training for all staff. [Motivation: employer’s mandate for training. Result: taking course on first aid]
They moved to the suburbs because their parents wanted a quieter environment.
She took up yoga because her therapist suggested it for stress relief.
He began studying French because his boss required proficiency for the new project.
Examples of adverb clauses of cause, motivation, and reason
1. Because the movie received excellent reviews, it attracted large audiences. [Adverb clause of cause]
2. Since the software update was faulty, many users experienced crashes. [Adverb clause of cause]
3. She bought noise-canceling headphones because her roommate often played loud music. [Adverb clause of reason]
4. She bought noise-canceling headphones because her roommate recommended a great deal. [Adverb clause of motivation]
5. She enrolled in a cooking class because her mother loves gourmet meals. [Adverb clause of reason]
6. She enrolled in a cooking class because her mother asked her to. [Adverb clause of motivation]
7. Because she followed a healthy diet, her overall health improved. [Adverb clause of cause]
8. They decided to relocate because the cost of living in the city was too high. [Adverb clause of reason]
9. She missed the bus because she overslept. [Adverb clause of cause]
10. He began writing a blog because his friends encouraged him to share his stories. [Adverb clause of motivation]
11. He cleaned his room because his guests were arriving soon. [Adverb clause of reason]
12. As the traffic was heavy, he arrived late to the meeting. [Adverb clause of cause]
13. Because the system was hacked, they had to implement new security measures. [Adverb clause of cause]
14. They organized a fundraising event because the local shelter required additional funds. [Adverb clause of reason]
The clause can be non-finite or verbless as well
We typically associate adverb clauses with what we’ve seen so far, the ones with subject and finite verb. (Grammatically speaking, these are finite adverb clauses.) But adverb clauses can be non-finite or even verbless.
(Finite vs. non-finite vs. verbless clause: If you don’t know what finite, non-finite, and verbless clauses are, here is a simplified difference between the three. A finite clause contains a finite verb. It’s another term for noun clause, relative clause, and adverb clause. A non-finite clause contains a non-finite verb. It’s another term for infinitive phrase, participial phrase, and gerund phrase. A verbless clause resembles a clause but lacks a verb phrase.)
What’s unique about them is that they usually don’t require a subordinating conjunction.
Non-finite clause
Being the only person with relevant expertise, she was asked to lead the research team. [Since he is the only person with relevant expertise…]
Feeling overwhelmed by the mounting deadlines, she requested additional support from her colleagues and rescheduled some of her tasks. [Because she felt overwhelmed by…]
Worried about the results, she couldn’t sleep all night.
Verbless clause
Hungry after the hike, the adventurers cooked a hearty meal over the campfire.
Confident in their innovative approach, the engineers proposed a groundbreaking solution that promised to revolutionize the industry.
Don’t confuse above clauses with adverb clause of purpose
Some resources on the internet treat following clauses as adverb clause of purpose as they seem to contain meaning of purpose.
Because he wanted to improve his health, John started exercising every morning. [John started exercising every morning with the purpose of improving his health.]
Since she needed more experience in the field, Maria volunteered at the local animal shelter. [Maria volunteered at the local animal shelter with the purpose of gaining more experience in the field.]
But these are not adverb clauses of purpose. Adverb clauses of purpose are introduced mainly by subordinating conjunctions so that and in order that (in formal use), and they contain a modal auxiliary (will, would, could, might, etc.). Examples:
John started exercising every morning so that he could improve his health.
Maria volunteered at the local animal shelter so that she could gain more experience in the field.
Conversely, don’t treat adverb clause of purpose as adverb clause of reason.
