"After", a conjunction or an adverb

[spot]

In the following sentence "After killing the goose, the farmer gasped." Is "after" a subordinating conjunction or an adverb? If it is a subordinating conjunction and not an adverb, how do you explain and convince somebody who believes it is an adverb? Thank you.

[Casiopea]

In the following sentence "After killing the goose, the farmer gasped." Is "after" a subordinating conjunction or an adverb? If it is a subordinating conjunction and not an adverb, how do you explain and convince somebody who believes it is an adverb? Thank you.

A subordinating conjunction introduced a clause. (Please note, a clause has tense)

Conjunction: The farmer gasped after he had killed the goose.

'after', a subordinating conjunction, introduces the clause 'he had killed the goose'; note, 'had killed' carries tense.

If 'after' doesn't introduce a clause, then it's not a conjunction:

Preposition: After killing the goose, the farmer gasped.

'after', a preposition in form, heads the adverbial phrase 'After killing the goose'; note, 'killing' is not a verb.

Both the phrase and the clause are adverbial: they answers the question, When?

Adverb Test
Q: When did the farmer gasp?
A: After killing the goose. (adverbial phrase)
A: After he had killed the goose. (adverbial clause)

In short, subordinating conjunctions join clauses. So when in doubt, look for a tense-carrying verb.

[spot]

Thank you so much. It makes sense. Is there a test to see if a word is an adverb or not? In another word, if somebody insists that "after" itself in this context is an adverb and not a preposition, what can you say? Can you say that adverb stands alone?

[Casiopea]

Thank you so much. It makes sense. Is there a test to see if a word is an adverb or not? In another word, if somebody insists that "after" itself in this context is an adverb and not a preposition, what can you say? Can you say that adverb stands alone?

Well, easily enough, an adverb, as its name states, adds to the meaning of a verb. That is, adverbs modify verbs, so for our example, if 'After' is modifying a verb, then it's an adverb, and if it isn't modifying a verb, then it's not an adverb:

After killing the goose

Question: Is 'killing' a verb?
Answer: No. It's a gerund, a verbal noun.

Question: How do we know it's a gerund, because, you know, it does look like a verb?
Answer: words that end in -ing are not verbs. They are either present participles or gerunds, and only gerunds take objects:

killing (noun, gerund) + the goose (object of 'killing')

Moreover, gerunds, being nouns, act like nouns. They function as subjects and as objects.

Subject: Killing the goose was tedious work.
Object of the verb: Did you read Killing the goose?

Nouns also function as objects of prepositions:

Object of a preposition: Tell me about killing the goose.

The same holds true for our example:

Object of a preposition: After killing the goose

The thing about prepositional phrases is that they always express Where and When, which is a tell-tale sign that the phrase is functioning as an adverb.

Adverb Test
Q: When did the farmer gasp? (Adverb)
A: After killing the goose. (Adverb phrase)

In short, every word and phrase has two levels of representation: (1) its form (What it looks like) and (2) its function (What it does in the sentence).

The phrase 'After killing the goose' has the following representation:

Form: prepositional phrase

The phrase gets its name from the word that heads it. 'After' heads the phrase. We know 'After' is not an adverb: (a) it takes an object, and (b) that object is a noun ('killing').

Function: adverbial phrase
It answers the question, When?

[spot]

Thanks a million. It was a great help!!!

[Steven D]

A subordinating conjunction introduced a clause. (Please note, a clause has tense)

Conjunction: The farmer gasped after he had killed the goose.

'after', a subordinating conjunction, introduces the clause 'he had killed the goose'; note, 'had killed' carries tense.

If 'after' doesn't introduce a clause, then it's not a conjunction:

Preposition: After killing the goose, the farmer gasped.

'after', a preposition in form, heads the adverbial phrase 'After killing the goose'; note, 'killing' is not a verb.

Both the phrase and the clause are adverbial: they answers the question, When?

Adverb Test
Q: When did the farmer gasp?
A: After killing the goose. (adverbial phrase)
A: After he had killed the goose. (adverbial phrase)

In short, subordinating conjunctions join clauses. So when in doubt, look for a tense-carrying verb.

A: After he had killed the goose. (adverbial phrase)

Hi,

Did you mean "after he had killed the goose" is a clause? I would call it a clause. It has a subject and a verb. Typo, right?

[Casiopea]

A: After he had killed the goose. (adverbial phrase)

Hi,

Did you mean "after he had killed the goose" is a clause? I would call it a clause. It has a subject and a verb. Typo, right?

Yes. Thank you. I shall edit it.

Given my pre-cold state at the time, I am surprised I hadn't written,

The goose gasped, after he had killed the farmer.

[Steven D]

Yes. Thank you. I shall edit it.

Given my pre-cold state at the time, I am surprised I hadn't written,

The goose gasped, after he had killed the farmer.

I've typed things in error before that I certainly didn't mean and would not have said.

It happens.