Clauses: Clarifying use and meaning
TEMPORAL SINCE AND REASON SINCE
I've been living here since I left my parent's home
desde que
What have you been doing since we last met?desde que
She took her raincoat since it was raining
puesto que, ya que
Since you have no money, you can't comecomo, puesto que
Note: Reason since is equivalent in meaning as reason as. [As it was raining..., as you have no money...]
TEMPORAL WHILE AND CONCESSIVE WHILE
She made some tea while I was tidying up the room
mientras que
We stayed indoors while it was rainingmientras que
[=during the time that]While* I agree on that, I still think you've been rude
aunque
[=in spite of the fact that; although]
Renting a house is expensive while* buying it is cheapmientras que
[=whereas, in contrast]
PURPOSE SO THAT AND RESULT SO
We paid him immediately so that he wouldn't complain
para que
They took the plane so that they could get there earlypara que
We paid him immediately, so he left contented
y así,
We know her well, so we can tell her your storyy así, por eso
CONDITIONAL IF AND CONDITIONAL UNLESS
They'll send it to you if you make a request
si
We'll get lost unless I can find the compass!a no ser que
TEMPORAL AS AND REASON AS
Show your ID cards as you approach the entrance, please
cuando, a medida que
As we rushed along the busy street, Helen tripped!I went to a supermarket, as I needed some whipped cream
puesto que, como
As you are ready, could you help me with this?
*Some educated native speakers consider this is a perverted use of while. While should be only used for time (‘during the same time as’, ‘at the same time as’). For contrast we are meant to use whereas
NB: Clauses can be finite or non-finite. In other words, they may have a finite verb (a verb with a subject, in a tense) or a non-finite verb (an infinitive, a present participle [-ing] or a past participle, with no subject, of course).
More: intro on clauses and printer-friendly version of all