Look at these examples to see how participle clauses are used.
Looked after carefully, these boots will last for many years.
Not wanting to hurt his feelings, I avoided the question.
Having lived through difficult times together, they were very close friends.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
- Grammar test 1
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
Participle clauses enable us to say information in a more economical way. They are formed using present participles (going, reading, seeing, walking, etc.), past participles (gone, read, seen, walked, etc.) or perfect participles (having gone, having read, having seen, having walked, etc.).
We can use participle clauses when the participle and the verb in the main clause have the same subject. For example,
Waiting for Ellie, I made some tea. (While I was waiting for Ellie, I made some tea.)
Participle clauses do not have a specific tense. The tense is indicated by the verb in the main clause.
Participle clauses are mainly used in written texts, particularly in a literary, academic or journalistic style.
Present participle clauses
Here are some common ways we use present participle clauses. Note that present participles have a similar meaning to active verbs.
- To give the result of an action
The bomb exploded, destroying the building. - To give the reason for an action
Knowing she loved reading, Richard bought her a book. - To talk about an action that happened at the same time as another action
Standing in the queue, I realised I didn't have any money. - To add information about the subject of the main clause
Starting in the new year, the new policy bans cars in the city centre.
Past participle clauses
Here are some common ways that we use past participle clauses. Note that past participles normally have a passive meaning.
- With a similar meaning to an if condition
Used in this way, participles can make your writing more concise. (If you use participles in this way, … ) - To give the reason for an action
Worried by the news, she called the hospital. - To add information about the subject of the main clause
Filled with pride, he walked towards the stage.
Perfect participle clauses
Perfect participle clauses show that the action they describe was finished before the action in the main clause. Perfect participles can be structured to make an active or passive meaning.
Having got dressed, he slowly went downstairs.
Having finished their training, they will be fully qualified doctors.
Having been made redundant, she started looking for a new job.
Participle clauses after conjunctions and prepositions
It is also common for participle clauses, especially with -ing, to follow conjunctions and prepositions such as before, after, instead of, on, since, when, while and in spite of.
Before cooking, you should wash your hands.
Instead of complaining about it, they should try doing something positive.
On arriving at the hotel, he went to get changed.
While packing her things, she thought about the last two years.
In spite of having read the instructions twice, I still couldn’t understand how to use it.
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
Hello again Kirk,
Yes, everything is clear. Thank you, as always, you are a rockstar.
Just to summarize your message:
The sentences with it-subjects are pretty straightforward and, if used in everyday speech, will not cause confusion. These 'dummies' don't actually do anything, they are merely placeholders. Such examples are clear, but grammatically, they are lame, since the subjects still don't match (the main clause has 'it', the -ing might have a few implied subjects). When we use a normal subject (like in my last example), and our -ing doesn't agree with it, we create a dangling modifier, which definitely makes the sentence ambiguous.
I assume that the easiest way to rephrase these sentences (without changing the ideas) is to add subjects to when clauses, thereby transforming them into regular time clauses:
- It's Sod's law that it will rain when you go for a picnic.
- It is important to stay positive when you try to lose weight.
- Is it right that 'mallet' and 'hammer' can be synonyms when people talk about tools?
- Fred met Mary in Paris when she was travelling (travelled) abroad. (probably that's the best option)
On the other hand, we can change the subjects in the main clauses, but it might require some additional rephrasing:
- When going for a picnic, you are likely to experience Sod's law in action, as most probably it will rain.
- When trying to lose weight, you should stay positive.
- Do people often use 'mallet' and 'hammer' interchangeably (or as synonyms) when talking about tools?
Does that make sense?
Tony
Hello Tony,
Yes, that's correct -- well done.
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Thank you very much. Legend.
Hello teachers,
I have a question about using present participle clause. As I know, the subject in two clause should be the same, but I often come across some sentences like the below. As I see, the subject is not the same. So could you help explain this point for me?
"when developing a mobile marketing strategy, the most important things to consider is your content."
Based on what I learned, I would write the above as below
" When developing a mobile marketing strategy, you should consider your content as the most important thing"
I know It sounds unnatural, but I was stuck there. Please help to clear things out for me.
Thank you so much!!
Hello le thu huong,
Sometimes a sentence looks like a participle clause because certain words are omitted. Here, you actually have a reduced relative clause rather than a participle clause, The 'full' sentence is as follows:
You can read more about reduced relative clauses here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduced_relative_clause
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you Peter,
I did check about reduced relative clauses. However, I still cannot figure out the answer for the initial question. As my knowledge, the relative clause can be reduced when there is one part in common ( the subject or the object), but as the sentence in question, I cannot see anything like that. Could you help to explain one more time cause I really feel stuck at this grammar point.
Thank you so much for your patience and help.
Hello again le thu huong,
My apologies for my earlier answer in which I addressed the first part of the sentence but did not include the part referencing the relative clause in the second part. The first part uses ellipsis, not a reduced relative clause: When you are developing...
The second part does connect to this subject ('you') but it is hidden by ellipsis or by a reduced relative clause plus ellipsis. For example:
Incidentally, I think 'thing' is needed here rather than 'things' as 'content' is singular.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello teachers.
Q1: Which of these sentences are correct?
a. "Interested in the book, he borrowed it from the library."
b. "Being interested in the book, he borrowed it from the library."
Q2: In a sentence with a participle, is the participle a verb or an adjective?
e.g. "I was interested"
I argued that "interested" is an adjective here, while my colleagues said "was interested" (both words) is the verb here.
Their counter example: "I was caught", where "caught" is a verb.
Does that mean in all passive voices, the past participle is actually an adjective? e.g. even in "I was killed", "killed" is an adjective?
Appreciate all the assistance!
Hello Bryan,
Re: question 1, both a. and b. are correct. As is mentioned above, these forms are fairly rare in speaking, and even in writing I'd choose b. over a., which sounds even more formal/antiquated than b.
Re: question 2, 'I was interested' can be either 'be' + adjective (e.g. I went to Barcelona because I was interested in modernist architecture) or a passive verb form (e.g. On my visit to Barcelona I saw human towers, which I'd never heard of, and they piqued my interest). It's difficult to say which one it is without some knowledge of the speaker's perspective or the situation.
The same is true of 'I was caught': it can be 'be' + adjective (e.g. I was stuck or immobilized) or a passive verb form (e.g. the teacher caught me cheating).
I'd say that 'I was interested' is more commonly 'be' + adjective and 'I was caught' is more commonly a passive verb, but as I've mentioned, both are possible.
Hope this helps.
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Thank you Kirk. Just a couple follow-up question, if you don't mind.
i. Does the answer for Question 1 change depending on whether the word "interested" is a passive verb or an adjective? Or are sentences a and b both correct regardless?
ii. You mentioned that "caught" can be an adjective or a passive verb form. In the sentence "I was caught by my teacher", what word class is it?
ii. Is a passive verb a kind of word class? I was under the impression that in the sentence "I was caught", "was" is the verb while "caught" is the adjective, or subject complement. Which one is it?