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

Language level

Average: 4.3 (54 votes)
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Submitted by Maxim on Thu, 20/08/2020 - 09:42

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For example i have a sentence: "I saw a girl walking through the park". Who was walking through the park? Me? /When I was walking through the park I saw a girl/ Or a girl? /I saw a girl who was walking through the park/ How to emphasize WHO was doing action?

Hi Maxim,

Yes, it's possible to understand the sentence both ways!

Normally, though, listeners would understand walking through the park as describing the girl, because the words are right next to each other.

If you actually mean that it was me (the speaker) who was walking through the park, this wouldn't be the best way to say it because it's confusing. It needs to be rephrased to make it clearer, as you suggested.

I hope that helps :)

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Xxx on Mon, 17/08/2020 - 14:16

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I've got a question here. Is the sentence "cooking, i remember you" correct? It's related to participle, isn't it?

Hi Xxx,

Yes, it is a correct sentence. But it's a bit hard to understand for a reader or listener. It's unusual to have a single word (cooking) as the present participle clause.

Other options would be more commonly used. -ing clauses often follow conjunctions or prepositions (see above for more examples), so this would be a clearer and more common way to say it:

  • While cooking, I remember you.

Does that make sense?

Best wishes,

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Kapil Kabir on Sun, 16/08/2020 - 17:55

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Hello sir, Sir, I get confused when I use 'as if, as though and if' when they are used as ' a imaginary situation that may be true' I have an example I was surprised when the hostess smiled as if she saw me before. I don't know how as if is used here. For an imaginary situation we mainly use 'were/ V2' but I think the correction in this example is 'had been.
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Submitted by Jonathan R on Mon, 17/08/2020 - 04:11

In reply to by Kapil Kabir

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Hi Kapil Kabir,

Yes, this is an imagined situation. Had seen is correct here: ... as if she had seen me before. It needs to be in the past perfect (not past simple), to show that that action (seeing me) happened before the other actions (I was surprised / the hostess smiled). 

Check our page on the past perfect for more information about this: https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/intermediate-to-upper-intermediate/past-perfect

Best wishes,

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello sir, I don't know why I'm asking that question but I'm curious to know about this The question is that We use Degrees for increase the emphasis or stress on something. Like Hot(Positive Degree) Hotter(Comprative Degree) Hottest( Superlative Degree) But my question is We use adverbs, like very, too....etc, to emphasize or stress the Adjectives as well as Adverbs Very Hot Too Hot I want to know What is difference among these, when we use Degrees(Hot,Hotter,Hottest) and Adverbs(Very hot, Too hot). Can we say The adverb of Degree equivalent to Degree in adjective ? Like Very Hot/ Too Hot = Hottest If it is not equal, then what is difference in the meaning. I hope you to understand what I want to say. Please clarify sir. Thank you.

Submitted by Kapil Kabir on Thu, 13/08/2020 - 12:12

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Hello sir, I have a great confusion regarding these sentences 1) Some of the students are gone. 2) Some of students are gone. I want to know why we put article 'the' before students. Is it necessary or not? Someone else told me that there is no difference between sentence 1 and sentence 2. Please clarify sir :)
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Submitted by Kirk Moore on Thu, 13/08/2020 - 14:49

In reply to by Kapil Kabir

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Hello Kapil Kabir,

1 is correct and 2 is not. Instead of 1, you could also say 'Some students are gone' (which means the same thing). You can read an explanation of this in the Members of groups section of our Quantifiers page.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team