He ate his meal quickly (how) David gave blood last week (when) Susan went to school in New York (where)
The highlighted constituents here are ADJUNCTS. From a syntactic point of view, Adjuncts are optional elements, since their omission still leaves a complete sentence:
He ate his meal quickly ~He ate his meal David gave blood last week ~David gave blood Susan went to school in New York ~Susan went to school
Many types of constituents can function as Adjuncts, and we exemplify these below.
Realisations of Adjuncts
Noun Phrases functioning as Adjuncts
David gave blood last week Next summer, we're going to Spain We've agreed to meet the day after tomorrow
NPs as Adjuncts generally refer to time, as in these examples.
Adverb Phrases functioning as Adjuncts
They ate their meal too quickly She walked very gracefully down the steps Suddenly, the door opened
Prepositional Phrases functioning as Adjuncts
Susan went to school in New York I work late on Mondays After work, I go to a local restaurant
PPs as Adjuncts generally refer to time or to place -- they tell us when or where something happens.
Clauses functioning as Adjuncts
Subordinate clauses can function as Adjuncts. We'll begin with some examples of finite subordinate clauses:
Clauses functioning as Adjuncts | EXAMPLES |
| Finite | While we were crossing the park, we heard a loud explosion I was late for the interview because the train broke down If you want tickets for the concert, you have to apply early My car broke down, so I had to walk |
| Nonfinite To-infinitive clause Bare infinitive clause -ing clause -ed clause Small clause |
To open the window, you have to climb a ladder Rather than leave the child alone, I brought him to work with me Being a qualified plumber, Paul had no difficulty in finding the leak Left to himself, he usually gets the job done quickly His face red with rage, John stormed out of the room |
You will notice that these clauses express the range of meanings that we looked at earlier (in Subordinate Clauses: Semantic Types). In all cases, notice also that the Adjuncts express additional and optional information. If they are omitted, the remaining clause is still syntactically complete.
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