How to use participle clauses - improve your grammar with English Masterclass from the BBC

Beware the participle claws! Get it? Claws…like the nails of an animal. Clause…like the

part of a sentence… no? Alright, look it doesn’t matter. This is everything you need

to know about participle clauses. Stay tuned.

A participle is a form of a verb. A participle clause is a subordinate clause which begins with a participle.

They act like adverbs and are linked to the main clause of a sentence.

They usually show things like event order,

time, cause and effect.

Stepping on camera, I relaxed completely. or

Filmed inside, the footage was too dark to use.

There are present participles, ING, and there are past participles which are basically the

third form of the verb. Stepping on camera…stepping is an example of a present participle. It

basically means ‘When I stepped on camera’. Filmed inside…filmed is an example of a

past participle. It basically means ‘Because it was filmed inside’. It is very important

to remember that participle verbs do not change their form to show tense. This actually happens

in the main clause, and participle clauses usually mimic the same tense as the main clause.

However, it is possible to put a tense in a participle clause by itself. For example:

Knowing I was filming today, I wore a shirt.

Participle clauses often have implied subjects. This means that the subject of the participle

clause is the same as the subject of the main clause and so it is omitted in the participle

clause. For example: Seeing the mistake, she corrected it immediately.

However, it is possible for a participle clause to have its own subject – and this is a

little bit more formal. So, for example: Seeing she had made the mistake, she corrected

it immediately.

To make a participle clause negative, we use ‘not’, and this comes before the participle

verb. So, for example: Not knowing the baby slept, she phoned.

However, the ‘not’ can come after the participle verb depending on your meaning.

So, for example: Not knowing the baby slept, she phoned.

versus Knowing not to call because the baby slept,

she waited until the next day. Got it?

To make clear that one action is finished

before the action in the main clause is begun, we use Having + the past participle. And this

basically works the same way as ‘because’ or ‘after’. So, compare:

Putting away the equipment, they talked about going home. – that means ‘while’

but Having put away the equipment, they went home.

– that means ‘after’

Finally, all sorts of prepositions can sit before the participle verb to further emphasise

or clarify events’ order, time, cause and effect. Words like after, before, since, while

and with. So for example:

By practising every day, she passed her driving test.

or Without knowing it, I had ruined everything.

For more information, please go to our website at bbclearningenglish.com for further examples

and practice exercises. I’ve been Dan, you’ve been fantastic. Practise your participle clauses

guys – keep them sharp!