Reduced Adverb Clauses: Noun phrase

[holmes]

Hi ,there ,Erin.
Please tell me how to use with Though, even though, although, despite, in spite of.
Is it possible to use THOUGH + Noun ?
I met a sentence like this : Maryland, [even though] a southern state , remained ……..
I am a bit confused because I think a southern state is a noun-phrase.
Thanks.

[Erin]

Hey there, Holmes!

We need to understand a couple of things here.

First, prepositions are followed by nouns.

In other words:

Preposition + Noun

Second, subordinating conjunctions are followed by sentences.

In other words:

Subordinating Conjunction + Noun

Finally, most adverb clauses can be reduced by removing the subject (if it's a pronoun) and the verb (only if it's a be-verb). When we do this, we'd end up with only the adverb subordinating conjunction and a noun complement.

Confusing? Look at these examples:

<ul>[*]Although I was late, I had a second cup of coffee.[*] Although she was a doctor, she couldn't help the sick child.[*]When you are in Rome, do as the Romans do.[/list]
All of these sentences can be rewritten thus:

<ul>[*]Although late, I had a second cup of coffee.[*]Although a doctor, she couldn't help the sick child.[*]When in Rome, do as the Romans do.[/list]
There's a lot more to explain, so if you have any specific questions, please post back here!

I'm working on a page to explain more of this stuff, so keep an eye out.

Hope that helps!