PARTICIPLE CLAUSES

PRESENTATION

Participle Clauses

INDEX

When to use participle clauses

Present participle

Past participle

Uses

Time

Cause

Substitutes a relative clause

Substitutes a passive

When to use participle clauses

WE USE A PARTICIPLE CLAUSE WHEN WE WANT TO INCLUDE INFORMATION MORE CONCISELY IN A SENTENCE.

Present participle

• Verbs finished in –ing
• Seeing (simple)
• Having seen (compound)
• Seeing the students cheating, the teacher decided to fail all of them. = when she saw…
• Having broken her leg the last time she went skiing, she decided to stay home this year.

Past participle

• Verbs finished in –ed or 3rd column of irreg. v

• They usually replace verbs in the passive.

• Dressed in red, she was the star of the party.

• Made of iron, it was difficult to break.

Uses

Both present and past participles can indicate: 1. Time 2. Cause 3. Relative clause 4. Substitutes a passive

Time

Having completed the book, he went on holiday. =After or when he had completed…

Opening her eyes, the baby began to cry= when she opened…

Cause

Believing him to be the murderer, she was absolutely terrified. = Because she believed he was the murderer…

Ashamed of how her child was behaving, she punished him. = As she was ashamed of how her…

Substitutes a relative clause

The thief, realizing the police are after him, tries to get out of the country. = The thief, who realizes the police are after him,…

The girl, forced/ having been forced to marry a man she doesn’t love, decides to escape. = The girl, who has been forced to marry…

Substitutes a passive

First published in 1905, it has been reprinted many times. = It was first published in 1905 and it has…

Looked after carefully, the plant can live through the winter. = If it is looked after carefully,…