Hi! It’s konkaz (@konkazuk) here.
Basic patterns and how to form (present &past) participle clauses were explained in previous article《Eigo-jiru vol.23》.
And this time, we are going to make an investigation into perfect participle clause, and negative sentences of participle clause.
When we have only vague knowledge of participle clause, we are prone to confuse the form of present/past participle clause with the form of perfect participle clause, aren’t we?
Once you have read this article and have learnt how things work with perfect participle clause, the difference between them will be clear and you won’t confuse them any more.
So, let’s have a look!
Perfect Participle Clause
A type of sentence you could apply the form of participle clause has got a structure of…
A (When ~, As ~, Though ~, Because ~, etc.), B (main clause).
After making sure that the subject in clause A is the same as the one in clause B (main clause), you eliminate the conjunction and the subject from clause A and change the verb into the form of participles so that it (clause A) can play a role as an adverb.
The same procedure can be applied to forming perfect participle clause, however, tense is involved with this occasion.
How to form Perfect Participle Clause
The fundamental rule to apply the form of perfect participle clause (Having+past participle) is that…
The tense of clause A (The part where the participle clause is to be formed) must be older than clause B (main clause) ‘s.
With keeping this rule in mind, let’s go through some examples!
As I forgot to bring my lunch, I’m now eating this snack bar that my friend offered me.
The event that is being mentioned in the 1st clause (written in bold), which includes a conjunction “As”, happened before the point where the person is filling his/her stomach with a snack bar that was given by his/her friend.
Hence, what we are going to do to form perfect participle clause is…
① Eliminating the conjunction＋subject from the 1st clause…
As I forgot to bring my lunch, I am now eating this snack bar that my friend offered me.
👉 forgot to bring my lunch, I am now eating this snack bar that my friend offered me.
② And then, change the verb, which now has been left at the beginning of the sentence, into the form of perfect participle clause; “Having+past participle” to complete.
Forgot to bring my lunch, I am now eating this snack bar that my friend offered me.
👉 Having forgotten to bring my lunch, I am now eating this snack bar that my friend offered me.
Let’s try next one!
Because the washing had dried, it was put away.
Again here, the fact that “the washing had dried” in the 1st clause did happen before the point of putting it away (2nd clause), therefore…
① Eliminating the conjunction＋subject from the 1st clause…
Because the washing had dried, it was put away.
👉 had dried, it was put away.
② And then, change the verb, which now has been left at the beginning of the sentence, into the form of perfect participle clause; “Having+past participle” to complete.
Had dried, it was put away.
👉 Having dried, it was put away.
If the sentence has become slightly difficult to understand due to its change, then we can put the subject we had once eliminated back on the main clause.
👉 Having dried, the washing was put away.
Because she has experienced so many similar situations, she can deal with it calmly.
Now, the 1st half of the sentence is present perfect tense, and the 2nd half is just present tense.
Present perfect tense includes the past, so it can be regarded as “older” than present tense.
So again, what we need to do is…
① Eliminating the conjunction＋subject from the 1st clause…
Because she has experienced so many similar situations, she can deal with it calmly.
👉 has experienced so many similar situations, she can deal with it calmly.
② And then, change the verb, which now has been brought at the beginning of the sentence, into the form of perfect participle clause; “Having+past participle” to complete.
Has experienced so many similar situations, she can deal with it calmly.
👉 Having experienced so many similar situations, she can deal with it calmly.
Though I have been learning English for more than 10 years, I still bump into so many new vocabularies.
It’s just the present perfect tense in a previous example has been replaced with present perfect continuous, isn’t it?
So again, what we need to do is…
① Eliminating the conjunction＋subject from the 1st clause…
Though I have been learning English for more than 10 years, I still bump into so many new vocabularies.
👉 have been learning English for more than 10 years, I still bump into so many new vocabularies.
② And then, change the verb, which now has been left at the beginning of the sentence, into the form of perfect participle clause; “Having+past participle” to complete.
Have been learning English for more than 10 years, I still bump into so many new vocabularies.
👉 Having been learning English for more than 10 years, I still bump into so many new vocabularies.
Perfect Participle Clause or using “After”?
It was mentioned earlier that…
Perfect Participle Clause is applied when the tense of clause A (The part where the participle clause is to be formed) must be older than clause B (The main clause) ‘s.
However, clarifying event’s order within the sentence can be done by simply using the word “After”, so there will be some cases that you can do without using the form of Perfect Participle Clause.
For example, a sentence that includes the form of Perfect Participle Clause…
Having finished my homework, I went to bed.
can also be expressed as…
After finishing my homework, I went to bed.
What’s happening here is that there is this original sentence
“After I finished my homework, I went to bed.”
whose verb form of the 1st clause is meant to be expressed as “had finished” with “past perfect tense” but expressed just with “past tense” because the order of the events becomes apparent by using a conjunction “After”.
And because both 1st clause and 2nd clause (main clause) have got the same tense here, the normal procedure of forming participle clause [eliminating the subject followed by changing the verb into the form of present participle “-ing”] except keeping the conjunction “After” is carried out.
👉 After finishing my homework, I went to bed.
Grammatically speaking, it’s not that you cannot express as “After having finished my homework”, however it is rarely used because it sounds repetitive.
Incidentally, you can also put all kinds of prepositions before a participle to emphasize or clarify the order of events or its cause.
Examples could be…
Since leaving my hometown, I haven’t got in touch with my old friends.
Before boarding the aeroplane, he took painkillers.
Without knowing what to say, he only smiled and left the room.
Participle Clause with “negative sentence”
Participle Clauses with “affirmative sentence” have been explained up to this point, so here, we give focus to how “negative sentence” of Participle Clause is to be formed.
But let’s briefly check what we know before moving on…
The sentences we can transform into Participle Clause are generally…
- The subjects in the 1st clause and the 2nd clause of the sentence are the same.
- A conjunction is included in the sentence
So, let’s keep these in mind and go through example sentences.
As I don’t have a bottle opener, I am using my house key to open this bottle.
First of all, just like how we have been dealing with “affirmative sentences”, we go…
① Eliminating the conjunction＋subject from the 1st clause…
As I don’t have a bottle opener, I am using my house key to open this bottle.
👉 don’t have a bottle opener, I am using my house key to open this bottle.
② Subsequently, after removing “do” and placing Not (or Never) at the beginning of the sentence, we change the verb form into “present participle (-ing)” to complete.
Don’t have a bottle opener, I am using my house key to open this bottle.
👉 Not having a bottle opener, I am using my house key to open this bottle.
Next one…
Though she didn’t feel well, she went to work.
The same procedure can be applied, so…
① Eliminating the conjunction＋subject from the 1st clause…
Though she didn’t feel well, she went to work.
👉 didn’t feel well, she went to work.
② And then, after removing “did” and placing Not (or Never) at the beginning of the sentence, we change the verb form into “present participle (-ing)” to complete.
Didn’t feel well, she went to work.
👉 Not feeling well, she went to work.
And one more…
Because I didn’t know the meaning of it, I googled it with my phone.
Again, what we need to do is…
① Eliminating the conjunction＋subject from the 1st clause…
Because I didn’t know the meaning of it, I googled it with my phone.
👉 didn’t know the meaning of it, I googled it with my phone.
② Subsequently, after removing “did” and placing Not (or Never) at the beginning of the sentence, we change the verb form into “present participle (-ing)” to complete.
Didn’t know the meaning of it, I googled it with my phone.
👉 Not knowing the meaning of it, I googled it with my phone.
Now, we are going to work on the sentences whose tense of the 1st clause is older than the 2nd clause’s.
Since the paint on the wall hasn’t dried yet, it will be ruined if someone touches.
Firstly, what we need to do is…
① Eliminating the conjunction＋subject from the 1st clause…
Since the paint on the wall hasn’t dried yet, it will be ruined if someone touches.
👉 hasn’t dried yet, it will be ruined if someone touches.
② Secondly, after removing “has” and placing Not (or Never) at the beginning of the sentence, we change the verb into the form of “having+past participle” to complete.
Hasn’t dried yet, it will be ruined if someone touches.
👉 Not having dried yet, it will be ruined if someone touches.
Next example sentence…
Though I hadn’t finished my task, I was told to go.
Same as the last procedure…
① Eliminating the conjunction＋subject from the 1st clause…
Though I hadn’t finished my task, I was told to go.
👉 hadn’t finished my task, I was told to go.
② And after removing “had” and placing Not (or Never) at the beginning of the sentence, we change the verb into the form of “having+past participle” to complete.
Hadn’t finished my task, I was told to go.
👉 Not having finished my task, I was told to go.
Let’s have a look at an example sentence with “Never” as well.
Because I have never gone skiing, I’m so excited.
What we need to do is…
① Eliminating the conjunction＋subject from the 1st clause…
Because I have never gone skiing, I’m so excited.
👉 have never gone skiing, I’m so excited.
② After removing “have” and placing “Never” at the beginning of the sentence, we change the verb into the form of “having+past participle” to complete.
Have never gone skiing, I’m so excited.
👉 Never having gone skiing, I’m so excited.
Summary
So, we have gone through several example sentences to learn the way to form Perfect Participle Clause and negative sentences of Participle Clause.
To summarise this article’s points…
- While present participle and past participle are applied to form participle clauses when the tense of 1st and 2nd clause of the sentence are the same, perfect participle clauses are formed when the tense of 1st clause of the sentence is older than that of its 2nd clause.
- Present perfect tense includes the past, so it can be regarded as “older” than present tense.
- When it comes to emphasizing the order of events, it is possible to put prepositions before a participle, and “present participle(-ing)” is applied to form participle clauses in this case.
- To form participle clause with negative sentence, after eliminating the conjunction and the subject from the 1st clause of the sentence, place “Not (or Never)” at the beginning of the sentence, and change the verb form into “present participle (-ing)” when the tense of 1st and 2nd clause of the sentence are the same, and into the shape of “having + past participle” when the tense of 1st clause of the sentence is older than that of its 2nd clause.
While participle clauses are rarely used for speaking, they are common in written English such as literary and some other academic sorts.
After reading this article, if you naturally come to figure out the form of participle clause while you are reading some English written books, that will be fantastic.
konkaz