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simultaneity, succession of actions, the beginning or the end of the action, repetition, coincidence of two
actions, gradual development of a process, etc. These temporal relations can be illustrated by the following
examples:
When a Forsyte was engaged, married, or born, the Forsytes were present. Whenever there was a
pause, he gently asked again. (The conjunctions when and whenever introduce clauses expressing
repetition.)
As they stood up Ivory clapped him on the shoulder. (The subordinate clause denotes the moment when
the action of the principal clause takes place.)
While he walked around Christine sat and knitted at a distance. (The predicate in the subordinate clause
expresses a durative action, which coincides in time with the action expressed by the predicate in the
main clause.)
And now that Cecily had married, she might be having children too. Our hostess, once everyone had
arrived, was full of good humour. (In both these cases the predicate in the subordinate clause expresses
a completed prior action which fixes the moment from which the action or state expressed in the main
clause becomes possible; therefore the subordinate clause of time has a shade of causal meaning.)
As they approached the house, they became quieter and quieter. (Both the actions are gradually
developing.)
They were calling each other ‘George’ and 'Elizabeth' before they reached Camden Town. (The
subordinate clause points to the moment before which the action of the main clause was in progress.
The action of the predicate in the subordinate clause is posterior.)
The heavy guns began again soon after it was light. (The action of the subordinate clause, which is
prior, fixes the beginning of the action in the main clause.)
The conjunctions till and until introduce clauses which fix the end of the action in the main clause if the
latter contains no negation, as in:
She resolved to wait till Clym came to look for her.
If the time reference in the subordinate clause with till or until is to a commencement point, the main clause
is always negative. For example:
He did not say a word till he was asked.
They did not marry until she was forty.
The boy did not start to read until he went to school.
Corresponding sentences with affirmative main clauses are impossible unless, the conjunction before is
used.
*He said a word till he was asked ——> He said some words before he was asked.
*They married until she was forty ——> They married before she was forty.
The conjunction since may introduce a clause which indicates the beginning of a period of time continuing
until now or until some time in the past. In the first case the present perfect is used in the principal clause, in the
second the past perfect. In a temporal clause the past indefinite tense is used in both cases. For example:
I have only seen him once since I left school.
She had been such of a companion to him since she was three years old.
If the actions expressed in both clauses are durative and still continuing, the present perfect tense is used in
both the clauses, as in:
Since we have been friends we have never quarrelled.
Conjunctions of recent formation have mainly been formed from nouns denoting time, although some are