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Is the word "when" a conjunction in:
I was going to call you when I got home.
If it's a conjunction I suppose "when" is usually reduced, what I mean by that is that the vowel in the word "when" is pronounced with a schwa sound. I said usually because I know stress can be shifted for special emphasis. Am I right?
Though dictionaries often label "when" as an adverb (So in Oald), the Oxford Guide to English Grammar by John Eastwood says:
We form an adverbial clause of time with a conjunction, eg
By the way, you can download this grammar. For more information on this grammar Link
I was going to call you when I got home.
In the sentence according to the modern grammar when is a preposition. Except a few, modern grammar classifies as preposition all the words that tradition grammar calls subordinating conjunction or simply subordinator. They argue that like verb why a preposition can't take a declarative clause.
A verb as a head can take a NP as complement.
He hit him. [The verb - hit - takes NP - him - as a complement]
But a verb as head can also take a declarative clause as complement, but then grammarians don't call them something else other than a verb.
I remember you promised to help. [The verb - remember - takes a declarative clause - you promised to help - as a complement]
So if a verb is called a verb regardless whether it takes a NP or a declarative clause as complement, then why a preposition to be called a conjunction if it takes a declarative clause as complement. Hence modern grammarians decided to call it a preposition even if they take declarative clause (though they call if, whether etc subordinator).
I was going to call you when I got home.
If we try to explain the POS of when from the point of view of traditional grammar, it's a conjunction, a subordinating conjunction that is. Because it connects two clause.
No, it is not a conjunction. Here 'when' is an adverb.
I was going to call you when I got home.
Take for instance the below segment of the sentence:
I was going to call you.
Okay when?
When I got home.
An Adverb is a word that describes or adds more meaning to a verb. Call is the verb here and when is an Adverb of Time.
It is a conjunction. Two things happen in the example sentence: first arrive home, and then call, refered to in two clauses and the when connects them.
However, it is a subordinating conjunction (sometimes called a "trigger word") introducing an adverbial clause, and on the principle that words introducing new information take a strong pronunciation the vowel is not reduced to a schwa.
As, when and while are conjunctions. In some uses as, when and while can mean the same, but they can also have slightly different meanings. We use them to introduce subordinate clauses.(From Cambridge "English Grammar Today")
A conjunction (also called a connective) is a word such as and, because, but, for, if, or, and when. Conjunctions are used to connect phrases, clauses, and sentences. (From Oxford Dictionary)
In English, there are lots of subordinating conjunctions, but the most common ones, along with a few examples of how subordinating conjunctions are used, are as follows:
when - “When I see you smile, I can face the world” (From Your Dictionary)
As well as the coordinating conjunctions noted and explained above, there is a whole raft of subordinating conjunctions. Some of them are: ... when .... (From Bristol University Improve Your Writing)
Subordinating conjunctions are used to join independent clauses to make complex sentences. The subordinating conjunctions are as follows: after, although, as, as if, because, before, even if, even though, if, if only, rather than, since, that, though, unless, until, when, where, whereas, wherever, whether, which, and while. (From Purdue OWL)
