Participle Clauses in English Grammar

hi in today's lesson you're going to learn all about participle clauses firstly what is a participle clause well a participle is a form of a verb a participle clause is a subordinate clause that begins with a participle so like adverbs it's a way of linking two smaller clauses together in a complex sentence they can give more information about a verb or idea in a sentence they usually show things like event order time cause or effect so why do we use participle clauses well because they help us to say more information in a more economical way and are often used to make a piece of writing more varied and sophisticated so why do you need to know how to use them well participle clauses are mainly used in written texts so if you need to write english in exams such as ielts or cambridge fce or advance then this is one way to impress there are three kinds of participle clauses present past and perfect firstly let's look at the present participle clauses the form is the verb plus ing for example going reading seeing walking for example when you want to talk about an action that happened at the same time as another action you could say we lay on the beach gazing up at the night sky this means we lay on the beach and gazed up at the night sky or to give the reason for an action or a cause for example knowing she loved reading richard bought her a book this means because he knew she loved reading richard bought her a book let's look at another example feeling exhausted after the journey i went to bed as soon as i got to the hotel this means because i felt exhausted and so on notice the participle clause is in and yet the meaning is in the past tense the participle clause doesn't change its form even though the meaning is in a different tense participle clauses can also be used to give the result of an action for example the bomb exploded destroying the building or to add information about the subject of the main clause for example starting in the new year the new policy bans cars in the city centre or we can use participle clauses adjectively for example look at the man sitting on the bus this is look at the man who is sitting on the bus present participles have a similar meaning to active verbs now let's look at past participle clauses the form is just the past participle such as gone read seen and walked so like present participles they can be used to give the reason for an action as in this example worried by the news she called the hospital or to add information about the subject of the main clause for example although badly wounded i managed to take cover behind a building which means although i was badly wounded i managed to take cover behind a building or to give a similar meaning to an if conditional sentence looked after carefully these boots will last for many years which means if you look after these boots carefully they will last for many years here past participles normally have a passive meaning finally let's look at perfect past participle clauses firstly the perfect participle in active sentences the form is having plus the past participle for example having gone having read having seen having walked for example to give a reason for an action having lived in oxford all my life i couldn't imagine moving perfect participle clauses can be used to show event order so instead of writing we finished the shopping then we went to a cafe you could write having finished the shopping we went to a cafe so as you can see perfect participle clauses show that the action they describe was finished before the action in the main clause and then the perfect participle in passive sentences the form is having plus being plus past participle so having been made redundant she started looking for a new job or having been rescued the injured man was taken to hospital this means because the injured man was rescued he was taken to hospital finally let's look at some tips for participle clauses tip one we can use prepositions such as after by in while with since and many more with a present or perfect participle clause to make the meaning clearer for example after visiting or after having visited several shops we returned to the hotel here it is clear that we visited the shops first or by not eating between meals she managed to lose a lot of weight when the participle clause describes a situation a different subject can be used using with for example i was beginning to get a migraine with the students all talking at the same time or with it being sunday in switzerland we couldn't find any shops open tip two generally the subject of the participle clause is the same as that of the main clause for example waiting for ellie i made some tea which means while i was waiting for ellie i made some tea however it is possible to have participant clauses with a different subject for example there being no money left we had to start making our way home this is a participle clause of cause it means because there was no money left we had to start making our way home or it's being too late to get a train we took a taxi again we have different subjects it and we this is again a participle clause of cause as it means because it was too late we took a taxi tip three participle clauses do not have a specific tense the tense is indicated by the verb in the main clause for example knowing i was going to an interview today i wore a shirt and tie which means because i knew i was going to an interview today i wore a shirt and tie so even though we're using a present participle the meaning is taken from the main clause so hear war okay so now it's your turn complete the sentences with the same verb once as a present participle and once as a past participle one blank my love of chocolate she hid it away in her drawer blank by many people the actor was always recognized in the street so here it's knowing knowing my love of chocolate the present participle and in the second sentence known known by many people the past participle two we took a shortcut blank an hour on our journey time with the money blank from giving up smoking i'm buying a bike here saving the present participle in the first sentence and saved the past participle in the second three blank all things into account i've decided to resign blank three times a day these tablets will help your allergy write your answers down below in the comment section and i promise to give you feedback on what you have written okay so that's it for today i hope you feel more confident about participle clauses remember to like this video if you found it useful share it with your friends and colleagues learning english and don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss out on any new english language videos so that's it for today take care and see you very soon bye bye

Channel: Oxford English Now

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Length: 10min 43sec (643 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 26 2021