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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Language level

C1 Advanced

Dear teacher,present participle and gerund are the same in meaning? Both are created by adding ing to the base form of the verb.

My second question is-

Participles function as an adjective but not as noun. And gerunds function as noun or they both can function as both(noun, adjective)?

Thanks.

Hello jassa,

Although both gerunds and present participles are '-ing' forms of verbs, they don't have similar meanings. I think you should compare infinitives and gerunds, because their functions are more or less the same: https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/a1-a2-grammar/verbs-followed-ing-or-infinitive

Once you know the functions of gerunds, you can easily tell the difference between gerunds and present participles.

Gerunds function as nouns -- subjects as well as objects in sentences. For example:

I love swimming. [As an object]
Swimming is very good for your health. [ As a subject]

On the other hand, present participle act as verbs in various tenses, as adjectives, or, can be used in present participle clause - as explained in this page above. For example:

I am walking. [ Present continous tense]
My friend is a walking disaster. [As an adjective]
What is the name of the celebrity walking on the red carpet? [Reduced relative clause of What is the name of the celebrity who is walking on the red carpet?]
Walking down the street, I saw a white dog. [Used in present participle clause]

Does my explanation make any sense to you, jassa?

Shetu Yogme.

Thank you dear sir.

When present participle don't function adjectively, then it functions verbally?

Thanks

Hello again jassa,

Participles have many uses in English - they are really quite flexible. You can see a full list here in the second headed 'Modern English':

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Participle

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thanks dear teacher.

Hello jassa,

In traditional grammar, the gerund is an -ing form which functions as a noun, meaning it can be the subject or the object in a sentence. Participles are forms of the verb with many uses but most often they function as adjectives.

In modern grammar we tend to simply use the term -ing form and describe its uses without giving separate names to each. In other words we say that the -ing form can be used as a noun or as an adjective - one form with two uses rather than two distinct forms with different names.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello LearnEnglish Team,

I want to highlight the following sentence from a news article from BBC News:

Republicans have previously tried to get English designated as the US's official language, with members of the House introducing legislation that failed in 2021.

Here we can see a participle clause after the preposition "with". What does this sentence mean with the participle clause included. There could be many examples of participle clause following "with". I wanted to know how and when to use present participle clause after "with". If you cold just explain please?

Hello ShetuYogme,

We use this kind of clause to introduce supporting information or examples to back up the point made in the main clause. It's also possible to use 'having introduced' if you want to emphasise that the action was in the past rather than still being current.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello Peter,

I think this kind of clause is different from present participle clauses. In a present participle cluase, the subject is the same as that in the main cluses. Examples from this page:

The bomb exploded, destroying the building. [The bomb exploded. The bomb destroyed the building.]
Starting in the new year, the new policy bans cars in the city centre. [The new policy starts in the new year. The new policy bans cars in the city centre.]

On the other hand, in the following sentence, we have two subjects in both the clauses:

Republicans have previously tried to get English designated as the US's official language, with members of the House introducing legislation that failed in 2021.

The subject in the main clause is 'Republicans', while that in the clause beginning with 'with' is 'members of the House'.

I have following sentence:

The weather for the south of England is likely to remain unsettled with showers crossing most regions in the late evening.

Shetu Yogme

Hello,

A user has a similar question regarding the clauses beginning with 'with'. He has got satisfactory answers from the LearnEnglish Team. Here is the link:

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/comment/191190#comment-191190

Shetu Yogme