Lesson video

Hi, I'm Mr. Buckingham and I'm really pleased you decided to join me today to learn about fronted adverbials.

Now these sentence starters we're going to learn about are a brilliant tool in a writer's toolkit, to help you make your writing more interesting and engaging.

We've got lots to learn, so let's get started.

Today's lesson is called Fronted adverbials, phrases and clauses, and it comes from my unit called Review of Determiners Prepositions and fronted adverbials.

By the end of today's lesson, we'll be able to use and recognise the difference between a fronted adverbial phrase and a fronted adverbial clause, and this is going to be a skill that's going to help us a huge amount in adding variety and excitement to our writing this year.

Let's get to work.

Here are keywords for today's lesson.

My turn, your turn.

Fronted adverbial, comma, phrase, clause and adverbial clause, well done.

Let's look at these in a bit more detail.

A fronted adverbial is a sentence starter that is followed by a comma, and we know that a comma is a punctuation mark used after any fronted adverbial.

A phrase is a group of words with no verb, and a clause is a group of words that contains a verb.

An adverbial clause is a type of subordinate clause that starts with a subordinating conjunction.

You right, might remember that a subordinate clause is a clause that does not make sense in its own.

Let's look at our lesson outline for today.

We're going to start off by identifying fronted adverbial phrases and clauses, and then we're going to move on to using those phrases and clauses in our own sentences.

Let's make a start.

We've learned that a fronted adverbial is a word, a phrase, or a clause at the start of a sentence that's followed by a comma.

Here are some examples.

Suddenly the glorious bird sawed into the darkening sky.

All of a sudden, the glorious bird sawed into the darkening sky.

As the fox pounced, the glorious bird sawed into the darkening sky.

We started off there with a word, a single word, suddenly, as a fronted adverbial, then we had a phrase, a group of words with no verb, and that was, all of a sudden and then we had a clause, a group of words with a verb, as the fox pounced with pounced as our verb.

All of those are fronted adverbial.

Now in the last lesson, we focused on words and phrases as fronted adverbials.

Today we're going to focus on phrases and clauses.

So let's just recap.

Where should the comma be placed to show these fronted adverbial words and phrases? Think about which is the part of the sentence at the start, which you would put the comma after.

Where should that comma be placed? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

In A, we put it after just then.

In B, it would be after silently, a single word fronted adverbial.

In C, it would be after in the distance and in D, it would be after here.

Now notice how the part of the sentence after the comma makes complete sense on its own.

In D, it would be, you will find all you need to rest and recover.

That is a complete sentence.

So far we've seen words and phrases used as fronted adverbial, but an adverbial clause can also be used as a fronted adverbial as well.

So let's recap what we mean by an adverbial clause.

Adverbial clause is a group of words that contains a verb like any clause, but it also does not make complete sense in its own.

So it's a type of subordinate clause and it begins with a subordinating conjunction.

Those are those words like as, when, while before and because that always starts an adverbial clause.

Let's look at some examples.

As the sunset is a adverbial clause.

When it was time to go, is an adverbial clause.

While we waited patiently, before we could stop him, after we had finished.

Every one of these contains a verb, set, was, waited, could stop, had finished, and it contains that subordinating conjunction at the start.

As, when, while before and after in these clauses are all subordinating conjunctions.

So when we place that adverbial clause at the start of a sentence, it's a type of fronted adverbial.

Remember, fronted means at the start of a sentence.

So what tells us that because I was hungry is an adverbial clause.

There are four possible ideas here.

Pause the video and decide which of them tell us that because I was hungry is an adverbial clause.

Have a go.

Well done.

Let's share together.

Yes, it contains a verb, that proves it's a clause.

Yes, it does not make complete sense in its own, that proves it's a subordinate clause and yes, it starts with a subordinated conjunction, in this case because, and that proves it's an adverbial clause, which is a type of subordinate clause and no, it doesn't make complete sense on its own, because it is a type of subordinate clause.

Really well done if you've got all three of those.

Now, here are some sentences that start with an adverbial clause.

As the sunset, we watched dolphins leap through the waves.

When it was time to go, the group piled into the minibus, before we could stop him, he decided to jump into the pool.

We can call this a fronted adverbial clause, because these are adverbial clauses placed at the start of a sentence.

The subordinating conjunction is there, the start of the sentence, starting that fronted adverbial clause.

There's the subordinate in conjunction and there's a comma after the adverbial clause here.

The part of the sentence that comes after the front of adverbial clause must make complete sense on its own.

Look at the first one.

After the comma we have, we watched dolphins leap through the waves.

That makes complete sense.

Here we can see he decided to jump into the pool.

This makes complete sense in its own.

It is a main clause.

It could be its own simple sentence.

This section is the adverbial clause.

It could be removed and that wouldn't affect the other parts of the sentence, that would still make sense.

So it's the fronted adverbial clause.

Where could a comma be placed in these sentences to show the front adverbial clause in each sentence? Pause the video and have a think, which is the part of the start which we could remove leaving behind a main clause that makes complete sense.

Where should that comma go to mark where that fronted adverbial clause should finish? Have a go.

Okay, let's check that first one.

We would put it after finished.

After we had finished, we dashed happily outside, and B, it would go after patiently, to show this fronted adverbial clause while we waited patiently and then C, it would go after outside to show this fronted adverbial clause so we could go outside.

Notice how the main clause makes sense on its own in each sentence.

We ate our lunch quickly, Mr. Clark took the register, we dashed happily outside, those could be their own sentence.

Now, an adverbial clause can only be called a fronted adverbial clause if it comes at the start of a sentence, because that word fronted means at the start.

So here is a sentence with an adverbial clause.

As February ended, the snow melted.

The adverbial clause is here at the start of the sentence, and I can tell that 'cause we've got that subordinating conjunction, as, right at the start of the sentence there.

So it's come before the main clause and yes, that's the fronted adverbial clause, but if we flip that sentence, we have the snow melted as February ended.

Now the adverbial clause is after the main clause, and I can tell where it starts because of that subordinating conjunction, as.

Now the adverbial clause is after the main clause.

So no, this is not a fronted adverbial clause anymore.

It's still an adverbial clause, but it's no longer fronted.

It's no longer at the start of a sentence and remember, and a fronted adverbial of any kind is followed by a comma and we can see that comma here.

So which of these sentences contains a fronted adverbial clause? Pause the video and decide.

Let's take a look.

Yes in A, we have a fronted adverbial clause before we could even begin.

We can see that subordinating conjunction at the start there before.

B does not, because that adverbial clause is after the main clause.

C, yes, it does have fronted adverbial clause.

As the smoke disappeared, is at the start of the sentence, without subordinating conjunction, as, starting off the whole sentence, but D, no, the adverbial clause comes second in that sentence after the main clause, so we can no longer call it a fronted adverbial clause.

Really well done if you've got those two.

Now a fronted adverbial clause, because it's a clause includes a verb, whereas a fronted adverbial phrase, because it's a phrase, does not include a verb.

Let's look at that difference in more detail.

We could write this sentence.

Before long, the bell rang for the end of playtime.

Before long does not contain a verb.

It's fronted, it's a frontad adverbial, but because it doesn't contain a verb, it's a fronted adverbial phrase.

We could change that sentence slightly.

We could say before we could finish our game, the bell rang for the end of playtime.

We now have verbs in our fronted adverbial.

We have could finish and we have that subordinating conjunction, before, at the start, so this is a fronted adverbial clause.

So you can see we have to be careful.

Both of these sentences started with the word before, but only in the second sentence was there a fronted adverbial clause and only in the second sentence was that word before, acting as a subordinating conjunction to start adverbial clause.

So we've got to watch out for these tricky ones to check whether we've used a phrase or a clause.

True or false.

This sentence contains a fronted adverbial clause.

After tea, we went to the park and we play tag.

Pause the video and decide if that's true or false.

Have a go.

Well done.

, that is false.

Now can you justify the answer? Pause the video video and decide whether A or B is the right justification for why it is false to say that sentence contains a fronted adverbial clause.

Have a go.

Well done.

It's B.

After tea is a fronted adverbial phrase because it does not contain a verb.

Really well done if you spotted that difference.

Now, we can identify the fronted adverbial clauses or the fronted adverbial phrase in a sentence in order to place the comma and we use the same method both times, here's how we do it.

We look at the sentence, During the summer, we will go to the forest and we think which part makes complete sense on its own and in this sentence it would be we will go to the forest, that is a main clause.

So this section here in this instance has no verb.

That is a fronted adverbial phrase, and we're going to place the comma after it.

Now let's change the sentence.

As the summer ended, we decided to go to the forest.

Now I'm going to check which part of the sentence makes sense on its own.

It would be this section, we decided to go to the forest.

So then I look at this section, it contains a verb, ended, so this is a fronted adverbial clause, but just as with the phrase, the comma is placed after it, between the fronted adverbial and the main clause, the part of the sentence which makes complete sense on its own.

So where should the comma be placed in each of these sentences? Pause the video and decide.

Good effort.

Now you might have spotted that the first example has a fronted adverbial clause.

"While Miss Ofoedu read our class book, we listened intently." We listened intently is the main clause, so we would put the comma after the adverbial clause while Miss Ofoedu read our class book.

The second example has a fronted adverbial phrase.

For the briefest of moments, everyone held their breath.

Everyone held their breath is our main clause.

It could be its own sentence, so the comma must go at B, after that fronted adverbial phrase for the briefest of moments.

We know it's a phrase, because it doesn't contain a verb.

Really well done if you decided correctly where to put those commas.

So let's do our task for our first parts of our lesson.

I want you to decide if each of these sentences begins with a fronted adverbial clause or fronted adverbial phrase.

So you can write clause, if it's a clause and phrase, if it's a phrase and I want you to add a comma in the appropriate place.

So remember to decide where that comma should go.

Work out which part of the sentence makes complete sense on its own and the comma goes at the end of the fronted adverbial and before that main clause, that part which makes complete sense.

So pause the video and see if you can decide are they clauses or phrases? And where should the comment be placed? Have a go.

Okay, let's have a look at these.

Here we can see the fronted adverbial phrases and clauses highlighted.

Now let's check whether they're clauses or phrases.

Before the end of the programme is a phrase.

There's no verb there.

When we began the puzzle, is a clause and you can see the comma there as well.

As Jacob picked up the strange statue has the verb picked, so it's a clause.

After several long minutes has no verb, it's a phrase.

Before we had time to argue, argue is a verb, that must be a clause and then In the centre of the maze has no verb, it must be a phrase and we can see the comma there as well.

So notice how the black section of verb sentence makes complete sense in its own, it's a main clause each time.

Dad had fallen asleep.

We realised it was difficult.

The door slammed shut.

All of these are main clauses and the comma comes before that main clause begins.

Really well done so far, you've done a great job.

Okay, we've done a great job of identifying fronted adverbial phrases and clauses so far.

We're now going to move on to using those fronted adverbial phrases and clauses in our own sentences.

Let's go.

So we've learned that fronted adverbial words and phrases can have several purposes.

We know we can have fronted adverbial of time like now, after lunch, before long, next to show us when something happened.

We know we can have fronted adverbial of place.

Between the trees, in the sky above there, over there.

These show us where something has happened and we know we can have fronted adverbial of manner.

Full of sadness, happily, devastated, with a frown and these show us how something happened.

So each of these different types of fronted adverbial tells us something more about what happened after the comma in our sentence.

Can you decide whether each of these fronted adverbial is showing time, place, or manner? Pause the video to have a think well done.

Depressed shows us manner.

It shows us how we are feeling as we fling ourselves onto that settee.

Full of hope also shows manner.

It's how you feel as you're handing Miss Ofoedu that homework.

Along the shoreline shows us place.

It's where those seagulls are hunting and within minutes shows us time, it's when that firework display was over, really good job.

Now most of the subordinating conjunctions we've learned will create fronted adverbial clauses of time, not so much place or manner so far.

So for instance, while we complete this test, I want you to be silent.

When the bus arrived, we stepped on quickly.

Before you learn to cycle, you'll have to walk to school.

After she caught the ball, the whole team cheered.

We can see those fronted adverbial clauses in green, starting with those subordinating injunctions, while, when, before and after.

All of those fronted verbal clauses in this case, give us more information about when the action is happening.

So we can choose an appropriate fronted adverbial clause to add more detail about when something happened.

So if you start with a simple sentence, we sat down to catch our breath.

We could say, when the match was over, we sat down to catch our breath, we've added a fronted adverbial clause.

We could say after we had reached the summit, we sat down to catch our breath, a different fronted adverbial clause.

As the final whistle blew, we sat down to catch our breath.

While the coach gave instructions, we sat down to catch our breath.

We've used different subordinated conjunctions to create different fronted adverbial clauses.

Each fronted adverbial clause though here is telling us more about when we sat down, when the action in the main clause was happening.

Can you choose an appropriate fronted adverbial clause of time from my list to begin each sentence.

We've got when it was home time, as the sky grew dark and before the night comes.

Pause the video and decide which one is most appropriate in each sentence.

Have a go Well done.

For the first one, we would say, before the night comes, we will need to find somewhere safe to camp.

For B, we'd say, when it was home time, we got our bags and coats and put the chairs on the tables and for C, we'd say, as the sky grew dark, tiny silver stars appeared above us.

Great job.

So let's try another one.

What fronted adverbial clauses of time can you think of now to begin this sentence? And I've given you a list of subordinating conjunctions to help.

So here's our simple sentence.

We finished our stories.

Can you come up with some fronted adverbial clauses showing us when this happened? Pause the video and have a go.

Okay, here are some that I came up with.

Maybe yours are similar.

I said as Miss Ofoedu helped red table, we finished our stories.

When maths was over, we finished our stories.

While the rain poured down outside, we finished our stories.

Before we could start PE, we finished our stories and after we had come in from play, we finished our stories.

Notice how the capture letter from that simple sentence for the we has been removed now, because we've added that fronted adverbial clause and we have a comma after it before that main clause begins.

Really well done if you came up with some similar ideas.

So we can choose to add either a fronted adverbial clause or a fronted adverbial phrase to a sentence.

We just have to remember, if we want to add a fronted adverbial clause, it must contain a verb.

So here's that simple sentence again.

We could write this.

After play, we finished our stories.

There's a fronted adverbial followed by a comma, or we could say after we came from play, we finished our stories.

There's a fronted adverbial followed by a comma.

The first one is a fronted adverbial phrase because it doesn't contain a verb.

This one contains the verb, came, so it's a fronted adverbial clause.

Can you decide which of the options below uses a fronted adverbial clause at the start of the sentence, pause the video and have a go.

Okay, let's check.

A does not contain a verb.

It's a fronted adverbial phrase.

Now that's sneaky because look, it has that word, as, at the start, which we often see as a subordinating conjunction in adverbial clauses, but in this case, it's not starting a clause, because there's no verb.

For B, again, there's no verb.

Before our visit to the Gurdwara, does not contain a verb, it's a fronted adverbial phrase, but in C, we've got that verb visited, so this is a fronted adverbial clause.

Before we visited, the Gudwara contains the verb visited, so it's a fronted adverbial clause and in this case, that word before is acting as a subordinating conjunction.

Really well done if you spotted that really small difference.

Now let's practise.

Let's see if we can add a fronted adverbial clause and a fronted adverbial phrase to the same sentence.

So we're starting with, the children worked in silence.

We could add a fronted adverbial clause.

As Mr. Ofoedu marked their tests, comma the children worked in silence.

We've got that verb marked.

We could add a fronted adverbial phrase.

For 25 minutes the children worked in silence.

There we have no verb.

So we know it's a fronted adverbial phrase.

Now you try.

Can you add both a fronted adverbial clause and a fronted adverbial phrase to this sentence, we were allowed on the field.

Pause the video and have a go.

Okay, let's have a look at some possible answers.

You could have said, when it was summertime, we were allowed on the field.

We've got that verb, was, so it's a fronted adverbial clause.

You could have said, during our PE lesson, we were allowed in the field.

There's no verb there, so it's a fronted adverbial phrase.

Well done if you manage to find something similar.

Okay, let's try our final task for this lesson.

I'm going to show you some sentences and for each sentence, I want you to rewrite it twice.

First with a fronted adverbial clause, and then with a fronted adverbial phrase and I've got this list of subordinating conjunctions again to help you write the clauses, because remember, a fronted adverbial clause must begin with a subordinating conjunction and remember, your fronted adverbial phrases must not contain a verb.

Here are three sentences.

For each one, you're writing it twice.

Once with a fronted adverbial clause and once with a fronted adverbial phrase and remember, that capital letter at the start of these short sentences, is going to be removed because it will now be in the middle of the sentence.

Pause the video and have a go.

Okay, let's take a look at some example sentences.

These are my examples.

Yours will look different.

I've said, as the teachers chatted, we waited patiently and for over 30 minutes, we waited patiently.

I've said, after tennis practise had finished Jun's mum picked us up and yesterday afternoon, Jun's mum picked us up.

I've said, when I fidgeted in my seat, Miss Ofoedu gave me a hard stare and instantly Miss Ofoedu gave me a hard stare.

Let's just check which ones there were clauses and which ones were phrases.

I had the verb chatted here, so this must be a clause.

I have the verbs, had finished, so this must be a fronted adverbial clause and I had fidgeted, making this a fronted adverbial clause.

So I had a clause and a phrase, a clause and a phrase, a clause and a phrase.

Hopefully you've managed to do something similar.

Just check now that each of your fronted adverbial clauses contains a verb and each of your fronted adverbial phrases does not.

Really, well done if you've managed that.

Okay, let's summarise all the amazing learning we've done in this lesson.

We learned that a fronted adverbial is a sentence starter, followed by a comma, and that we can use words, phrases and clauses to create fronted adverbials.

We learned that a fronted adverbial phrase does not contain a verb.

We learned that an adverbial clause starts with a subordinating conjunction and contains a verb, but does not make sense in its own and we learned that when we place an fronted adverbial clause at the start of a sentence, it can be called a fronted adverbial clause.

Really well done with all your learning in this lesson.

It's been lovely to join you, and I hope to see you again in a future lesson.

Goodbye.