Participle clauses

Participle clauses

Do you know how to use participle clauses to say information in a more economical way? Test what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.

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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Submitted by ShetuYogme on Sun, 25/08/2024 - 12:33

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LearnEnglish team, 

Which one of these two sententence is grammatically correct and makes sense:

  1. I went to the concert in a hope to have a glimpse of the celebrity.
  2. I went to the cocert hoping to have a glimpse of the celebrity.

If both of these are grammatically correct and make sense, what is the difference between the meanings they convey?

Thank you.

 

Hello ShetuYogme,

The first sentence is not correct. The phrase is 'in the hope of' and it is followed by a noun or an -ing form. Also, with 'glimpse' we usually say 'catch a glimpse', so the setences would be as follows:

I went to the concert in the hope of catching a glimpse of the celebrity.

I went to the concert hoping to catch a glimpse of the celebrity.

These constructions have a similar meaning in that they explain your motivation or goal. There is a small difference, however. The phrase '...in the hope of...' tells us your motivation before you went - it tells us why you went to the concert in the first place. The present participle 'hoping' does not tell us why you went but rather what what you wanted to achieve once you set off.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Do both sentences express a reason or simultaneous actions happening at the same time?

  1. 'Shocked by the news, she sat down quietly.'
  2. 'Punished by his mother, the boy refused to eat his dinner.'

Can I rephrase the second sentence as: 'Since his mother punished him, the boy refused to eat his dinner' (to show reason)? Or should I understand these sentences as describing actions happening at the same time?"


 

Submitted by Cieg on Tue, 30/07/2024 - 18:28

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Hello. I'm Cieg. I'm having a problem with a problem with main clause and subordinating clause from these two sentences.

1. The children sang songs and danced very happily. They walked back home. (If we use participle phrase here)    Walking back home, the children sang songs and danced very happily.

I think main clause would be about singing songs and dancing.


2.The children walked back home. They sang songs and danced very happily. (If we use participle phrase here)    Singing songs and dancing very happily, the children walked back home.

 

I think main clause would be about children walking back home.

Are there any differences or are these sentences the same?

 

-With utmost respect,

           Cieg

Hi Cieg,

The basic meanings are similar, but the focus in each sentence is different. In each sentence, the verb in the main clause is the main focus, and the participle clause verb is additional information about it.

I hope that answers your question.

Jonathan

LearnEnglish team

Submitted by Sep80 on Wed, 17/07/2024 - 15:24

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Dear LearnEnglish team,

When I write the sentence "The clay in the granite has been blown, leaving behind the quartz." without using a participle clause, it appears as: "The clay in the granite has been blown, and it has been left behind the quartz."

In the second clause of the second sentence, the verb is passive (has been left). Could you explain why the present participle isn't passive when we reduce the second sentence into the first? Why isn't it like "... has been blown, being left behind the quartz"?

Thank you.

Hi Sep80,

In the expanded sentence, "it has been left behind" is not grammatical. It should be one of these:

  1. The clay in the granite has been blown, and it has left behind the quartz.
  2. The clay in the granite has been blown, and the quartz has been left behind.

The present participle clause "leaving behind the quartz" is the result or effect of an action. We look to the previous clause for the cause of this action (the cause is the whole of the previous clause about blowing up the clay). 

Using the passive "being left behind" doesn't make sense here, because that would mean that the clause about blowing up clay was the receiver (rather than the doer) of the "leaving behind" action. In other words, the reader/listener would expect something like "being left behind by ..." and then the doer of the action to be mentioned, but it is not mentioned.

However, you could say this: 

  • The clay in the granite has been blown, the quartz being left behind.

Here, "the quartz" is the passive receiver of the action "left behind".

I hope that helps.

Jonathan

LearnEnglish team

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Submitted by Stor on Mon, 15/07/2024 - 13:23

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Dear teachers, why is this sentence (Taking a shower, I heard someone's phone ring) using 'ring' in its present simple form when the sentence is in past tense ('heard' is in its past simple form)?

Hi Stor,

Thanks for your question. Actually, here "ring" is in the infinitive form, not the present simple (although they look the same). It is part of the grammatical structure that follows the verb "hear". Here is the structure, with some more examples.

  • subject + hear + someone/something + infinitive verb
  • I heard someone's phone ring.
  • We can hear the birds sing.
  • I didn't hear you come home.

I hope that helps.

Jonathan

LearnEnglish team

Submitted by David.Z on Mon, 08/07/2024 - 07:22

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Hi there,

There's one sentence from my son's grammar exercise that's bothering me a bit. The sentence is, "Based on the quantity you order, we can offer you a big discount." I'm wondering if this is a dangling clause because I think the subject of the participle clause is 'a big discount', apparently not 'we'. Could you please help clarify this for me?

Thank you,

David