PARTICIPLE CLAUSES And RELATIVE PRONOUNS

Participles

There are three kinds of participles in English: present participle, past participle and perfect participle. You probably know the first two from certain tenses and adjective forms. Apart from that, participles are also used to shorten sentences.

Paticiple Clauses

participial clauses = adverbial clauses
Participial clauses often express condition, reason, cause, result or time in a similar way to full adverbial clauses, only more economically. Compare the following:

• Used sparingly, this face cream should last you until Christmas. If you use it sparingly, this face cream should last you until Christmas.
• Having taken the wrong train, I found myself in Bath, not Bristol. Because I had taken the wrong train, I found myself in Bath, not Bristol.
• Passing the theatre on my right, I walked up the steps and could see all the lights on the Thames ahead of me. After I had passed the theatre on my right, I walked up the steps and could see all the lights on the Thames ahead of me.

Note from the above examples that the -ing form participle is used to talk about past, as well as present events, e.g.:

Talking to you I always feel that my problems will be solved.
By talking to you, I always feel that my problems will be solved.

participle clauses following conjunctions and prepositions

Participle clauses, with -ing particularly, can be used after various conjunctions and prepositions,

such as: when, while, before, after, on, without, instead of. Note the following examples:

Remember to take all your belongings with you when leaving the train.
I sprained my ankle while playing tennis.
Before entering the mosque you must take off your shoes.
After taking everything into consideration, we decided to sell the house.
After having driven 300 miles across country, I arrived to find the house had been sold.
On hearing that my sister was planning to marry him, I decided to leave the flat to her.
Without wanting to seem rude, I must tell you that you are ungrateful.
Instead of listening to my advice, she walked out without saying goodbye.

Note from the above examples that the participle clause normally, but not invariably, comes in front of the main clause

having been + past participle

Note that this passive structure can also be used in participle clauses as an alternative to a since-clause
Having been invited to the party by Prince William himself, we could hardly refuse to go. ( = Since we had been invited…)
Having been deprived of food for over twenty days, the castaway was fed intravenously at first.
Having been unemployed for over two years, I found it difficult to get work.