PARTICIPLE CLAUSES

Participle clauses

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examples

• Looked after carefully, these boots will last for many years.
• Not wanting to hurt his feelings, I avoided the question.
• Waiting for Ellie, I made some tea.
• Having lived through difficult times together, they were very close friends.

Present Participles - Have a similar meaning to active verbs.

• The bomb exploded, destroying the building.
• Knowing she loved reading, Richard bought her a book.
• Standing in the queue, I realised I didn't have any money.
• Starting in the new year, the new policy bans cars in the city centre.

• Used in this way, participles can make your writing more concise.

• Worried by the news, she called the hospital.
• Filled with pride, he walked towards the stage.

past participles normally have a passive meaning

PAST PARTICIPLES

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.

Perfect participle clauses

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.

PARTICIPLE CLAUSES

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