Participle clauses

Do you know how to use participle clauses to say information in a more economical way?

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: Grammar B1-B2: Participle clauses: 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: Grammar B1-B2: Participle clauses: 2

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Language level

B2 English level (upper intermediate)

Hi Tifflora

We have several pages where you can read about these forms:

Please have a look and then if you have a specific question about a specific sentence, please let us know.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Sir What is an active meaning and a passive meaning that you have mentioned while giving reply to some questions. The sentence which I have written is grammatically correct.

Hello Fulsawange2020,

When the subject of the verb performs the action, we describe it as having an active meaning. For example:

I read the book.

The subject here is 'I'; the action is performed by the subject.

When the subject of the verb receives the action, we describe it as having a passive meaning. For example:

The book was read.

The subject here is 'the book'; the action is performed on the subject.

You can read more about active and passive voice and meaning here:

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/intermediate-to-upper-intermediate/passives

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/active-and-passive-voice

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi, I'd like to know the grammar explanation of the participle clause for the following sentence and the meaning of the whole sentence. Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh states, for instance, have suspended significant labour protections exempting factories from even maintaining basic requirements like cleanliness, ventilation, lighting and toilets.

Hi Gracy,

I think the sentence needs a comma before the participle clause. Without a comma, it appears that the participle clause describes the labour protections (i.e. the labour protections exempt factories from...), which would not make sense in this context. With a comma, it is the suspension of the labour provisions which is being described (i.e. the suspension of the labour protections exempts factories from...), which is clearly the meaning intended.

The participle clause describes the result of the action (suspending labour protections) in the main clause. We could rewrite it as two sentences as follows:

Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh states, for instance, have suspended significant labour protections. This has exempted factories from even maintaining basic requirements like cleanliness, ventilation, lighting and toilets.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thanks indeed Peter. That's really helpful.

Hi Peter, Can we rewrite as follows? "Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh states, for instance, have suspended significant labour protections, which has exempted factories from even maintaining basic requirements like cleanliness, ventilation, lighting and toilets." Thanks

Hi Kaisoo93,

Yes, that's perfectly fine.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

___ under normal clothes, a thermal layer keeps you warm in minus temperatures. i don't understand it

Hello Melih YILMAZ

'a thermal layer' is another way of saying 'thermal underwear'. Another way of saying this is 'A thermal layer, which is worn under normal clothes, keeps you warm in minus temperatures'.

Does that make sense?

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

It's really fascinating.

hello kirk please help me in the following scenario: The ongoing economic stagnation resulting because of the government's austerity drive is even worsening the socio-economic equation. 'because of the government's austerity drive': What this fragment of the sentence would be called? Is it a participle clause, as it seems that it is, for it is using the present participle. Or, is it a non-defining adjective clause? as it is providing extra info about the subject_the economic stagnation.

Hello! My textbook (Empower C1, unit 6B) says that you can’t turn the following relative clauses in participle clauses: Joanna is a woman who says what she thinks (NOT woman saying what she thinks) Paddy is the kind of man who never arrives anywhere on time (NOT man never arriving anywhere on time) And my question is why? The books explains that those are not continuous verbs, but i can use “arrive” in continuous.

Hello Dmitry P,

You can use participle clauses to join sentences with simple verbs:

Paul is a man. Paul lives in London.

Paul is a man who lives in London.

Paul is a man living in London.

The problem with your examples is something else. It is that we do not use participle clauses to describe general features or characteristics, but rather particular actions or states. Your examples describe behaviour which is typical for them rather than a particular action, and so participle clauses are not possible.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Q:___ by the changing information, they thought the plane was cancelled. Confusing Confused Having confused why the answer in the question above is not "having confused"?

Hello wycam10,

The sentence requires a verb form with a passive meaning, and the only option with a passive meaning is Confused. You could use a perfect form, but it would still need to be a passive form: Having been confused.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Referring to the question below, why the answer (b) is correct instead of (a) ? Q:___ by all the attention, he thanked everyone for the cake and presents. a.Embarrassing b.Embarrassed c.Having embarrassed

Hello wycam10,

We use present participles (embarrassing) when we want an active meaning and past participles (embarrassed) when the meaning is passive. In your sentence, the meaning is passive: the man is embarrassed by the attention.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Sir, The difference being that I don't like juice and she does. The difference is that I don't like juice and she does. Now I know that 'Being' is being used as a present participle in the first sentence above and I have some people using it that way that means it's a natural use. However It sounds quite unsual to me. I wonder, how can a participle, that is 'being' in this case, replace 'is or are' ? what kind of use of the being is this and can other participles: present ones or past ones be used in this way ?

Hello SonuKumar

This is a structure that some people might say from time to time, but it's fairly unusual in most situations. First of all, it's a bit academic, and in most writing other than transcriptions of a conversation between people (for example, in a story), it would be considered a sentence fragment rather than a complete sentence.

It would normally be at the end of a sentence, and preceded by a semi-colon or dash. In such a case, it would essentially be a kind of adverbial participle phrase. For example: 'She and I have the same tastes apart from one small difference -- the difference being that I don't like juice and she does.' As you have suggested, it means something like 'She and I have the same tastes except for one difference. The difference is that I don't like juice and she does.'

As a sentence fragment, 'being' doesn't replace the verb 'is' or 'are'. There is no main verb in the sentence as you copied it above, which is why we call it a sentence fragment in such a case. When it's part of a sentence (as in my example above), it's a phrase and so doesn't have a main verb.

I hope this helps you make sense of it.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello Teachers, "Students get a lower grade in some difficult subjects, which will lower their overall score, they thinking they do not perform well as a whole and undermine their confidence." 1) In this sentence, I use participle clause 'they thinking they do not...' to give the result of 'lower their overall score', meaning that lowering their overall score made them think that they do not perform well. Is it correct? 2) Do I need to change 'undermine their confidence' to participle clause 'undermining ...'? because 'undermine their confidence' is the result of 'they think they do not perform well' Can I rewrite this site's example sentence: "The bomb exploded, destroying the building." to "The bomb exploded, the building being destroyed"? Thank you

Hello Sirs, Appreciated if you could help answer my question, thank you

Hello Kaisoo93

It's not correct to begin the participle clause with 'they'. The sentence is difficult to understand as it is; I'm not sure where you found it, but I wouldn't take it as a model.

Your version of the sentence about the bomb is not correct. You could write 'The building being destroyed, the bomb exploded' but the meaning would be different -- it would mean that since the building was destroyed, the bomb exploded. That doesn't make much sense to me, but the grammar is not incorrect.

I'm sorry, but we can't provide explanations of sentences that don't come from our website. They are not always correct and we can't explain why other people write the way they do, especially when the grammar is non-standard.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi Peter, thank you very much for your excellent and understandable explanation. Best regards Jasmina

Hi English Team! I have a problem. We have to link folllowing sentences by using a participle construction: Donald Duck was "born" in 1934. He became the world´s most famous duck. I have three soultions: Born in 1934, Donald Duck became the world´s most famous duck. Being born in 1934, ... Having been born in 1934, ... Which one is the correct one and why? The second example is: The original Disneyland was designed by Disney himself. It opened in California in1955. My solutions: The original Disneyland, designed by Disney himself, opened in California in 1955. The original Disneyland, being designed by DIsney himself, ... The original Disneyland having been designed by Disney himself... When do I use past participle alone and when with have or have being? Thanks

Hi Jasmina,

The correct option for your first example is the first one (Born in, ...). This is because it is neutral in the sense that it simply provides information. The other two options suggest a causal link - that Donald Duck became the world's most famous because he was born in 1934.

The second example is similar. The second and third options suggest a causal link of some kind, while the first is simply a factual statement. The difference between the second and third options is that the second describes the situation at the moment (a fact about Disneyland now) whereas the third focuses on how that situation came to pass. It's a difference in emphasis and depends really on the speaker's intention and the context.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello Peter, Is the second sentence "The original Disneyland, designed by Disney himself, opened in California in 1955." considered as non-defining relative clause where "which is designed by" is reduced to "designed by"? Thank you

Hello Kaisoo93,

The naming here is complex and there are different views. Some hold that non-defining relative clauses cannot be reduced, and so an example like this is a post-modifying adjectival construction which is not a relative clause. Others would say that it is a non-defining relative clause and so they can be reduced.

Personally, I don't consider the labelling of structures and the formulation of strict rules to be the most important thing. A descriptive approach which identifies the structure and its use is preferable in my opinion. Here, we have a past participal post-modifying the subject of the sentence and providing additional, non-essential, information. Whether or not you see it as a reduced relative clause or as an alternative to a relative clause is really not important.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

In this sentence, " You can make a lot of money selling old cars." Why "selling" is placed with "by selling"? Because I think "selling" imlies the way to make money.

Hello Hainguyen123

'selling' and 'by selling' mean the same thing here. 'by' is often used before a present participle to speak about how to do something.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello Sir, Can we say that the word 'interesting' as in 'I have an interesting story' is participle or adjective? Because the -ing form of 'interest' is interesting and there is 'interesting' as an adjective. Thank you, Sir

Hello Risa warysha

'interesting' functions as an adjective here. The adjective is derived from the present participle, just as the adjective 'interested' is derived from the past participle of the verb.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Reading the paper,he saw the news about his homtetown. You chose reading because it is a reason of seeing the news . But I guess it may be perfect participle . He has read his paper ,after that he saw the news on tv .what do you think ? Thanks .

Hello alsayed

I wouldn't say that participle clause expresses reason, but rather that he saw the new while reading the paper (two actions at the same time). It could also possibly explain how he saw the news.

Because 'reading' ends in '-ing', it is a present participle, not a perfect participle.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello Peter, Why do we confuse the definitions. By calling Participle clause, you mean participle phrase. Similarly reduced relative clause is adjective phrase. Clauses are only three types-Noun, Adjective and Adverb. So why have new classes of clause? Thank

Hello Bharati,

I can't say why this is the case, I'm afraid. Language descriptions grow and evolve over time, and fashion comes and goes in linguistics as in everything else. All I can tell you is that both names are used for the structure. For example, this article on the topic by Richard Nordquist uses both terms and does not attempt to distinguish between them:

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-a-participial-phrase-1691588

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

hi , I would like to ask the following question. He stood on the back,holding on to his shoulders. He lunged for the telephone,lifting the receiver quickly. the participle clauses 'holding on to his shoulders. ' and ' lifting the receiver quickly' for which complete clauses did these two participle clauses come from?Thank you!

Hello Ire

I suppose the second one was something like 'He lunged for the phone and quickly lifted the receiver.'

I'm not sure I understand the first one -- perhaps something like 'He stood on the back while holding on'.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Shouldn't these be called Participle phrase rather than participle clause as by definition a clause has a subject and finite verb in it

Hello Bharati,

I've seen both terms used, to be honest, and read a lot of discussion about which is more appropriate.

You can read a brief discussion of this on this page:

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/262806/participle-phrase-participle-clause-participle-construction

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi Some languages use a term transliterated in English as "relative participle" Is there any such term in English grammar? Thank you

Hi Jamil,

This is not a term we use. You can find participles in reduced relative clauses, however.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thank you Peter Do you mean in non-finite reduced relative clauses? Regards Jamil

Hello again Jamil,

Yes, that's correct. A finite relative clause may be reduced to produce a non-finite relative clause:

The woman who is riding the bike > The woman riding the bike

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thank you Peter

Please, add some exams about Participle Clauses.

Dear Sirs, Can I use participle to describe a sequence of event? For example, I entered a room, and then in the room, I cleared all the rubbish, painted the wall, swept the floor, and clean the windows. Can I rewrite as the following? 1) I entered a room, clearing all the rubbish, painting the wall, sweeping the floor, and cleaning the windows. 2) I entered a room, and cleared all the rubbish, painted the wall, swept the floor, and clean the windows. Thank you

Hello Kaisoo93,

We use a participle like to describe actions happening simultaneously rather than in sequence, so your first sentence suggests that you did all of those actions while you were entering the room. Obviously, this is not possible, so the sentence would be understood thanks to the context, but grammatically the meaning would be a little different from that which you intended.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thank you Peter. So the second sentence is correct, is it?

Hello Kaisoo93,

Yes, the second sentence is fine.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team