2. Circumstance Types and Subtypes

In Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), circumstances tell us when, where, how, why, in what role, under what conditions, or from whose perspective a process happens.

This table summarises each type, its meaning, common prepositions, and an Earth Science example.

Circumstance Types

Type / Subtype	Meaning	Common prepositions	Example (Earth Science)
Time: point in time	When something happens	at, on, in	Earthquakes occur at night.
Time: duration	How long something happens	for, over, during	Erosion removes soil over many years.
Time: frequency	How often something happens	every, each, per	Tides rise every day.
Place: location	Where something happens	at, in, on	Plates diverge at mid-ocean ridges.
Place: direction	Where something moves	into, towards, away from	Magma rises towards the surface.
Place: source	Where something comes from	from, out of	Lava emerges from the vent.
Place: distance	How far something extends or moves	for, over, across	Ash clouds can spread across hundreds of kilometres.
Manner: quality	In what way something happens	with, in	Lava flows with great force.
Manner: means	By what means something happens	by, with, from	Earthquakes are measured from seismic readings.
Manner: comparison	How something is like something else	like, as	Ash spreads like smoke.
Manner: degree	To what extent something happens	to, with	Plates move with very little speed.
Accompaniment: in the company of	Who or what is in the company of something	with, without	Lava erupts with volcanic gases.
Accompaniment: in addition to	What is added alongside something	in addition to, with	Ash falls in addition to pumice fragments.
Matter	What the process is about	about, concerning	Scientists collect data about seismic waves.
Cause: reason	Why something happens	because of, due to, from	Rock melts due to intense heat.
Cause: purpose	For what purpose something happens	for, to, in order to	Barriers are built to reduce tsunami impact.
Cause: behalf	For whose benefit something happens	for	Warnings are issued for coastal communities.
Contingency: condition	Under what conditions something happens	under, in, with	Stress builds under high pressure.
Contingency: concession	Despite what	despite, in spite of	The volcano remained active despite reduced tremors.
Contingency: default	Otherwise / if not	otherwise	Ash clouds must be monitored; otherwise flights are unsafe.
Role: guise	The role, identity, or guise something takes	as, like	Magma rises as molten rock.
Angle: viewpoint / source	From whose perspective something is viewed or classified	from, according to	Earthquakes are classified according to magnitude.