by Max Wheeler
As soon as the ambulance arrives we’ll leave for the hospital.
cf. for a past situation:
De seguida queva arribar l’ambulància vam partir cap a l’hospital.
As soon as the ambulance arrived we left for the hospital.
Tan aviat com en sabrem el sexe decidirem el nom de la criatura.
As soon as we know what sex it is we’ll decide on the child’s name.
Tot seguit que em digué allò vaig començar a riure.
As soon as she said that I burst out laughing.
A penes ‘scarcely’, ‘no sooner’ can refer to past situations only:
A penes havíem sortit de casa que va començar a tronar.
No sooner had we left home than it started to thunder.
In informal style només…que can have this temporal sense too:
Només la va reconèixer queella va pegar un xiscle.
He had only just recognized her when …/No sooner had he recognized her than she let out a scream.
Note the use of que meaning ‘when’ in this construction and in other informal patterns (15.2.3iii) like:
Va arribar a casa que el seu pare ja havia mort.
She got home when her father was already dead, (or, more idiomatically: She got home to find her father already dead.)
33.2.3 ADVERBIAL CLAUSES OF MANNER
Manner clauses can be introduced by a simple conjunction: com ‘as’, segons ‘according to’, or a compound one: sense que ‘without’, igual que ‘like’, ‘just as’, en quant que/en tant que ‘in so far as’/’inasmuch as’:segons que, segons com ‘according as’. In these cases there may be a correlative element present in the main clause, an adverb like així ‘so’, talment ‘so’, tal ‘such’, or a noun relating to the idea of manner(manera, forma). Adverbial clauses of manner are also constructed with a non-finite verb without a conjunction, where the gerund or past participle is the verbal nucleus of the subordinate clause. These constructions are discussed in 21.4 (participle) and 22.2.3–4 (gerunds). See also 19.4.6 on mood in manner clauses.
Fes això com t’han ensenyat de fer-ho.
Do this as you have been taught to do it.
Entrarem a la fàbrica sense que ens vegin.
We’ll go into the factory without anyone seeing us.
Esta dona canta igual que la meua professora de música.
This woman sings just like my music teacher.
Aquesta versió, en tant/quant queva ser revisada per l’autor mateix, s’ha de considerar la més autèntica.
This version, inasmuch as it was revised by the author himself, must be considered the most authentic.
Varen fer el codicil segons (que) els va dir l’advocat.
They made the codicil in accordance with what the lawyer told them.
Segons com bufi el vent salparem cap a un costat ο cap a l’altre.
According to which way the wind is blowing we’ll set sail in one direction or the other.
Segons com appears to be half way between a modal and a conditional link, so that the last example can be interpreted as: Si el vent bufa d’una manera
salparem cap a un costat i si el vent bufa d’una altra manera salparem cap a l’altre. This conditional content of segons com is even strengthened in segons si:
Em posaré el vestit verd ο el negre segons si els convidats són molts ο pocs.
I’ll wear the green suit or the black one according to whether there are a lot of guests or just a few.
(i) Manner antecedent in the main clause
The presence of an adverb like així, tal, talment, igual or a noun meaning ‘manner’ like manera, forma underlines the ‘manner’ relationship between main and subordinate clause and makes the function of the adverbial manner clause similar to that of a relative clause:
Li agradava molt així com ballaves.
She really liked the way you danced.
Vivien tal com havien viscut els seus avantpassats.
They lived just as their forbears had lived.
Va ocórrer talment com t’ho he contat.
It happened just how I told you.
Ho he fet tal com tu m’ho has manat.
I did it just as you ordered.
Era un autor que escrivia igual com parlava.
He was an author who wrote just like he spoke.
Escriu la teva opinió així com la diries a un amic.
Write down your opinion just as you would tell it to a friend.
Cuina de la manera com en va aprendre de jove.
She cooks in the way that she learnt when she was young.
La forma com s’ha acomiadat m’ha semblat molt grollera.
The way she said goodbye seemed very rude to me.
Parles dels teus amics de la forma com jo parlo dels meus enemies.
You talk about your friends in the way that I talk about my enemies.
The connection between these constructions and relatives is especially obvious when the antecedent is a noun. In fact, a proper relative (preceded by preposition en) can appear in the place of com:
Cuina de la manera en la qual en va aprendre de jove.
La forma en què s’ha acomiadat m’ha semblat molt grollera.
Parlava dels seus amics en la forma en la qual jo parlo dels meus enemics.
(ii) Manner clauses and comparison
Since com appears as an introductory element both of manner clauses and of the second term of a comparison of equality, there is a natural overlap between the two types of clause (see 5.1). The coincidence is especially strong when the manner clause repeats the verb of the main clause:
El teu amic menja com mengen els porcs.
Your friend eats like pigs eat.
Hem dormit com dormen els óssos a l’hivern.
We have slept like bears sleep in winter (i.e. like logs).
The repeated verb is most often omitted:
El teu amic menja com els porcs.
Hem dormit com els óssos a l’hivern.
Parla tal com son pare.
He speaks just like his father.
Notice that talment com may be reduced to talment when no verb follows; here talment functions as a conjunction.
Menja talment un porc. He eats just like a pig.
S’amagava talment un lladre. He was hiding away just like a thief.
33.3 OTHER ADVERBIAL CLAUSES
33.3.1 CAUSAL CLAUSES
An initial classification can be established distinguishing causal clauses which introduce (i) a cause as new information:perquè, que, per tal com, car, puix (que) all rendering ‘because’, ‘as’, ‘since’, and (ii) a cause as already known: vist que, atès que, com que, ja que ‘because’, ‘on account of the fact that’.
(i) A cause explained as new information
A natural tendency is observed for such clauses to be placed after the main clause:
Varen atracar l’oficina aquell dia perquè sabien que hi havia diners.
They held up the branch that day because they knew there was money there.
Corre, corre, que farem tard.
Get a move on or we’ll be late.
Viuran en l’opulència per tal com els seus negocis comencen a rutllar.
They will be living in opulence as their business is starting to boom.
Elevem en la nit un cant a crits car les paraules vessen de sentit. (S. Espriu)
Let us shout up a song into the night since our words are overflowing with meaning.
Caldrà fer-ho puix (que) ella ho ha manat.
It will have to be done for she has given the order.
Per tal com, car, puix (que) and com sigui que, belong to an elevated style, being virtually unknown in colloquial registers. In all registers and styles perquèis the commonest way of saying ‘because’ and synonymous ‘as’, ‘since’. As illustrated in 15.2.3iii, que frequently heads a causal clause in familiar and colloquial speech. It is just the general complementizer ‘that’ used vaguely. Its causal sense is derived
purely from pragmatic inference. Causal clauses introduced by car and que can never precede the main clause.
(ii) Clauses introducing an already known cause
Atès que, com (que), donat que, jaque, vist que introduce a cause as being one already known to both speaker and listener (‘as’ = ‘on account of the fact that’, ‘bearing in mind that’). Following a general tendency for word order to be affected by ‘informational weight’, the normal position of such clauses is before the main clause, obligatorily for those introduced by com (que). Other compound causal conjunctions like tenint esguard que ‘in view of the fact that’, considerant que ‘considering that’, a causaque ‘because’, per raó que ‘for the reason that’, etc., are used in formal contexts.
Atès que tothom en té ganes avui anirem d’excursió.
As everybody is feeling like it we shall go on a trip out today.
Com (que)ara plou m’estimo més quedar a casa.
As it’s raining now I prefer to stay in.
Donat que la lliga s’ha posat tan difícil tots els equips hauran de fer fitxatges milionaris.
With the league becoming so tight every team will have to make big-money signings.
Ja que ens donen facilitats haurem d’acabar la feina puntualment.
As facilities are provided we’ll have to finish the job on time.
Vist que l’atur augmenta tant el govern haurà de prendre mesures.
Seeing that unemployment is increasing so much the government will have to take measures.
Since atès, donat, and vist are past participles they can be used in absolute clauses with a causal meaning (21.1.3). In this case gender and number agreement must be observed:
Ateses les ganes que tothom té d’anar d’excursió, avui hi anirem.
Seeing how keen everybody is take a trip out, we’ll go today.
Donada la dificultat que ha assolit la lliga, tots els equips hauran de fer fitxatges milionaris.
Given the tightness in the league positions every team will have to make big-money signings.
Vistes les xifres a què ateny l’atur, el govern haurà de prendre mesures.
In view of the figures that unemployment is reaching …
33.3.1.1 Causal clauses and coordination
Observe how causal relationships (referring both to new information and to already known causes, as described above) can be expressed by coordination rather than subordination:
(Varen atracar l’oficina aquell dia perquè sabien que hi havia diners. →)
Sabien que hi havia diners i (per això) varen atracar l’oficina.
They knew there was money there and (because of this) they held up the branch.
(Atès quetothom en té ganes, avui anirem d’excursió. →)
Tothom té ganes d’anar d’excursió i (per això) hi anirem avui.
Everybody is keen to take a trip out and (on account of this) we’ll go today.
This type of conversion is only possible with core causal clauses; peripheral causal clauses, namely, those introducing the (metalinguistic) cause of the utterance and not the cause of the facts, do not admit this process:
El vaixell ha tingut problemes perquè no ha arribat a port. (= (Crec que) el vaixell ha tingut problemes perquè no ha arribat a port.)
The ship has been in difficulties because it has not arrived in port.
cannot become *El vaixell no ha arribat a port i (per això) ha tingut problemes.
33.3.2 PURPOSE CLAUSES
This type of subordination overlaps with some expressions of ‘result’ as discussed in 33.3.4, so that the following distinction can be observed:
(i) so that = ‘in order that’ (purpose)
perquè
a fi que
pertal que
(ii) so that = ‘in such a way that’
de manera que
de forma que
talment que
Inasmuch as purpose is something ‘unfulfilled’ (or to be interpreted as a wish) in relation to the main situation, the verb in a subordinate clause after any of the above will appear in the subjunctive. De manera que and de forma que, when they express result(33.3.4), will be followed by the indicative. A fi queand per tal que are synonymous with perquè ‘in order that’, but they are characteristic of formal written language rather than spoken language.
T’ho explico perquè no fiquis la pota.
I’m telling you so that you don’t go and put your foot in it.
Proposem aquesta solució perquè/a fi que/per tal que la qüestió quedi definitivament tancada.
We are proposing this solution so that the question can be definitively closed.
Es van disfressar de manera que ningú no els pogués reconèixer.
They put on disguises so that nobody would be able to recognize them.
Li ho van explicar talment que ho aprengués de seguida.
They explained it to her so that she would learn it straightaway.
No sigui que/no fosque (also no fos cosa que, no fos cas que) are slightly archaic forms, expressing negative purpose, which have nevertheless rather wider currency than English ‘lest’:
Hi vaig haver d’entrar de puntetes, no fos que despertés els nens.
I had to go in on tiptoe, lest I woke the children.
Fes-ho ara mateix, no sigui que te’n descuidis.
Do it right away, so as you don’t forget.
It is the verbal mood that distinguishes in some cases between purpose and causal or between purpose and result meaning.
Surt al programa perquè la gent conegui la seva obra.(purpose)
He’s appearing on the programme so that people will know his work.
Surt al programa perquè la gent coneix la seva obra. (causal)
He’s appearing on the programme because people know his work.
S’amagaren a les golfes de manera que ningú no els descobrís,(purpose)
They hid in the attic so nobody discovered them. (= so that nobody should discover them)
S’amagaren a les golfes de manera que ningú no els va descobrir,(result)
They hid in the attic so nobody discovered them. (= with the result that nobody discovered them)
33.3.2.1 ‘Enough for’, ‘too much for’
With prou or bastant ‘enough’ and massa ‘too much’, ‘too many’, the standard of evaluation in a following clause is introduced by perquè:
S’hi van presentar massa candidats perquè els poguessin entrevistar a tots.
Too many candidates applied for them all to be interviewed.
Ja és prou gran perquè no l’hàgim de sermonejar.
He is old enough for us not to have to preach to him.
33.3.3 CONCESSIVE CLAUSES: ENCARA QUE ‘ALTHOUGH’ AND EQUIVALENTS
Encara que ‘although’, ‘even though’ is the most common concessive conjunction. (Per) bé que, malgrat que, si bé, (amb) tot i que, ni que (the latter always negative) are near-equivalents also quite widely used. Concession is another category associated with the thematic function of the subjunctive mood; see 19.4.2. Mal que and i això que ‘even though’ are also used in concessive clauses. Baldament and jatsiaque ‘although’ are characteristic of literary or formal language (although baldament, popularly maldament, is common in Balearic dialects). Baldament and mal que are always followed by the subjunctive, and i això que always by the indicative (see below).
Encara que hagués de fer el camí a peu vindria a visitar-te.
Although I might have to come all the way on foot I’d come to see you.
Encara que n’abaixin el preu aquest producte no es vendrà.
Even if they bring the price down this product won’t sell.
(Per)bé que en aquells terrenys hi ha molta d’aigua, la terra no és bona.
Although there is plenty of water in those lands, the soil is not good.
Malgrat que sigui petita, és prou valenta.
Despite being small, she’s pretty dogged.
Va créixer sense
pare, si bé la seva mare en va suplir l’afecte.
He grew up fatherless, although his mother filled the emotional gap.
Tot i que no hi era el secretari, van començar la reunió.
Even though the secretary wasn’t there, they began the meeting.
No ho consentiria, ni que li ho demanessis mil vegades.
She wouldn’t agree to it, (not) even if you asked her a thousand times.
No ho faria mal que el cel es besés amb la terra.
He wouldn’t do it in a month of Sundays, (lit. even if the sky were to kiss the earth)
I això que meaning ‘although’, ‘even though’ occurs with some frequency in the spoken language and in more relaxed written styles. It is followed only by the indicative as it refers to events, actions, or ideas presented as realities. It can be understood to mean ‘despite the fact that’. Clauses introduced by i això que invariably follow the main clause.
Ningú no va tastar l’arròs, i això que feia tan bona pinta.
Nobody tasted the rice, even though it looked so appetizing.
33.3.3.1 Other concessive constructions
