PARTICIPL

E CLAUSES
GRAMMAR
SIMPLER WAY TO
UNDERSTAND REDUCED
RELATIVE CLAUSES
ACTIVE: MAN [WHO IS] TAKING ……CONTINUOUS
PARTICIPLE: MAN TALKING
PASSIVE: CAR [WHICH IS] PARKED ….PAST
PARTICIPLE: CAR PARKED
THE MAN [WHO IS]
WORKING ….
1. Omit the Relative Pronoun
2. Omit the auxiliary verbs
4. ACTIVE ----- Continuous Participle
THE CARS [WHICH] ARE MADE
….
1. Omit the Relative Pronoun
2. Omit the auxiliary verbs
4. PASSIVE ----- Past Participle
MY GRAMMAR LAB
C1
MODULE 55 PAGE 244
 THERE ARE 3 TYPES OF
PARTICIPLE CLAUSE
ACTIVE PASSIVE
PARTICIPLE PARTICIPLE

SIMPLE (NOT) REPAIRED

CONTINUOUS (NOT) REPAIRING (NOT) BEING

REPAIRED
PERFECT (NOT) HAVING (NOT) HAVING
REPAIRED BEEN REPAIRED
USING a password, I openned the email application [ACTIVE: I USED A
PASSWORD]
USED with a password, the application offers complete segurity
[PASSIVE: THE APPLICATION IS USED BY SOMEONE]
POSITIONING AND RELATIONSHIP
WITH THE SUBJECT
Participle clauses give information about a noun in the main clause, so they do
not usually contain a subject. The subject of the main clause acts as the subject of
the participle clause:
Moaning with pain, the victim was examined by a young doctor. (The victim was
moaning.)
A participle clause at the beginning of a sentence cannot refer to the object of the
main clause:
Moaning with pain, a young doctor examined the victim (This would mean that
the young doctor was moaning, not the victim.)
CLAUSES OF TIME AND SEQUENCE
WITH
-ING PARTICIPLE

We usually use these clauses when two actions happen at around the
same time:
Turning the corner, we saw the hospital in front of us.
(= As/while we were turning the corner we saw the hospital in front
of us.)
In written English an -ing participle clause often describes the setting
or background:
Living in Los Angeles, Brad was one of those ever-optimistic movie
wannabes.
Standing alone in the desert, the huge pyramid dominated the
landscape.
If one action happened before another, we usually use a perfect
participle clause for the earlier action. This can go before or after the
main clause:
Having Finished his coffee, Versace began to walk back to his house.
= Versace began to walk back to his house, having finished his
coffee.
We can also use prepositions in front of -ing participles:
On entering the darkened room, we noticed a strange figure huddled
in the comer.
(= As we entered the room ... )
After swallowing the pill, Edward lay down and tried to get some
rest.
PARTICIPLE CLAUSES FOR
REASON, CONDITION AND
RESULT
Provided that the subject of BOTH clauses is the same, we can use
participle clauses to replace clauses of reason, condition and result. We
often do this in writing:

1 We often use the perfect participle because a reason or cause usually comes before a result.

2 Note that the result is often not intended: I stayed at work rather late, missing my last train
 REDUCED RELATIVE
CLAUSES
Participle clauses are an efficient way of giving more information about a noun and
can often be used to replace a defining relative clause. We call these reduced relative
clauses. Compare these examples:
The man who lives upstairs is very noisy. (defining relative clause) The man living
upstairs is very noisy. (active participle phrase)
They haven't identified the body which was found in the Thames. (defining relative
clause) They haven't identified the body found in the Thames. (passive participle
phrase)
Unlike participle clauses, in reduced relative clauses we put the noun we are
describing in front of the participle and we do not use commas to separate the clause
from the rest of the sentence.
We can only use participles in this way when the subject of the main clause and the
relative clause is the same. We cannot use a reduced relative clause if there is another
subject between the relative pronoun and the verb:
X The house living in is really old. ./ The house which we live in is really old.
In reduced relative clauses we only use an -ing form when we are
describing a continuing action or situation.
Do you know the man talking to Sara: Do you know the man who is
talking to Sara
We can't use an -ing form for a single completed action or with state
verbs:
X The thief taking her hag has heen arrested.
The thief who took her bag has been arrested. (single completed
action)
X The police are investigating the man owning the burnt out factory.
The police are investigating the man who owns the burnt-out factory.
(state verb)
We use commas around reduced non-defining relative clauses:
The college, founded in the nineteenth century, became a university in
the 1930s.