Understand these complex grammatical forms so you can master them on GMAT Sentence Correction
What is an adverbial phrase? What is an adverbial clause? What’s the difference between them? Do they have to contain adverbs?
Points of Grammar:
An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. We can form a boatload of adverbs by taking adjectives and adding the suffix “-ly” (e.g. “joyously”, “readily”, “magnanimously”, “bouncingly” etc.) Other common single word adverbs include “very”, “too”, “well”, “now”, “then”, “here”, “there” etc.
A phrase can be either a prepositional phrase (preposition + noun-object) or a participial phrase (participle form of a verb, with possible a direct object and/or adverb). If it modifies a verb, an adjective, or adverb, then it’s an adverbial phrase.
The independent clause of the sentence – main subject and main verb — will not be an adverbial clause. A dependent (a.k.a.subordinate) clause also has its own subject and verb, and if it modifies a verb, an adjective, or adverb, then it’s an adverbial clause.
Examples of Adverbial Phrases:
1) He drives like a maniac.
The prepositional phrase “like a maniac” is an adverbial phrase. It modifies the verb “drives” —it describes how he drives.
2) He walks dragging his left foot.
The participial phrase “dragging his left foot” is an adverbial phrase. It modifies the verb “walks” —it describes how he walks.
3) He is scornful with no mercy.
The prepositional phrase “with no mercy” is an adverbial phrase. It modifies the adjective “scornful” — it describes how scornful.
Examples of Adverbial Clauses:
4) She sings when she sees the Sun in the morning.
The dependent clause “when she see the Sun in the morning” is an adverbial clause. It modifies the verb “sings” — it describes when she sings.
5) She is so happy that she skips everywhere.
The dependent clause “that she skips everywhere” is an adverbial clause. It modifies the adjective “happy” — it describes how happy.
Doesn’t Necessarily Contain an Adverb
Notice that sentences #1-4 contain phrases & clauses that act like adverbs, by they themselves do not contain an adverb. The adverbial clause in sentence #5 happens to contain the adverb “everywhere.” An adverbial phrase may or may not contain an adverb itself.
Why Are These Important for the GMAT?
First of all, adverbial phrases are one of the marks of sophisticated writing. I guarantee the GMAT Sentence Correction section you see will be littered with them, so it’s good to be well acquainted with them beforehand. Also, the more comfortable you are with adverbial phrase, the more likely you are to use them in your own writing, including in the Analytical Writing Assessment of the GMAT; a well-chosen adverbial phrase will give that sentence a touch of sophistication, which can only help your AWA performance.
For free, here’s a practice GMAT SC question, involving these ideas: http://gmat.magoosh.com/questions/1164
You have mentioned, that the main verb and main subject cannot be the adverbial phrase, but a dependent clause will be.
In the example you have mentioned ‘He drives like a maniac’-'he drives’ is the main clause and ‘ like a maniac ‘is a dependent clause.
How about this sentence-
The Tea was sipped slowly and carefully.
Please do correct me and help me undersand the concept
Rajat,
I think you need to recognize the difference between a *phrase* and a *clause*. A phrase is any group of words that functions together, but a clause (whether independent or dependent) has a full [noun]+[verb] structure. The words “like a maniac” is not a clause at all — it’s a prepositional phrase. That sentence, like many simple sentences, doesn’t have a dependent clause at all.
In the sentence “The tea was sipped slowly and carefully”, “tea” is the main subject and “was sipped” is the main verb (passive). They form the core of the main independent clause. This sentence has no dependent clause. The words “slowly and carefully” are simply two adverbs in parallel.
Does all this make sense?
Mike
how about WSJ? is it better than The New York Times?
Jack: both the WSJ & the NYT are absolutely excellent. The NYT might be a little more literary, while the WSJ might give you a few more graphs and charts — good practice for the IR section. If you have the time, read both of them — they’re both great!
Mike
1) He drives like a maniac.
The prepositional phrase “like a maniac” is an adverbial phrase. It modifies the verb “drives” —it describes how he drives.
In 1, since we are comparing actions, shall we not write-
He drives as a maniac does.
The sentence “He drives like a maniac” is very common colloquially — nobody uses “as” in that informal context — but perhaps this is not the best example of GMAT standards. Yes, in any formal comparison of action, you would need the “as” clause.
“This new conductor interprets Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony as Leonard Bernstein did.” There, the comparative “as” clause modifies the verb — it is an adverbial phrase.
Does this make sense?
Mike
Hi Mike,
Thanks.
Yes, it was bad on my part to ignore the difference between phrase and a clause.
Thanks!
Rajat,
You are more than welcome. Best of luck to you!
Mike