Participle clauses

  • B2 · Upper-intermediate
  • Grammar lesson
  • 60 min

Participle clauses: Founded in 1919 by two brothers, the company still makes every chair by hand. Having built chairs for half the town, they opened a store. The people building them… The student reads a family furniture company's history page, sorts and builds -ing, -ed and having clauses, fixes the usual errors, and tells the story of an object of their own.

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Smiling,Having checkedNot trusting

What's in the lesson

  1. 1Warm-up
  2. 2In this lesson
  3. 3Reading: our storyReading comprehension
  4. 4What does it mean?Grammar exercise
  5. 5Find the participle clausesGrammar exercise
  6. 6Participle clausesGrammar rule
  7. 7What kind of clause?Grammar exercise
  8. 8Choose the participleGrammar exercise
  9. 9Everything must goGrammar exercise
  10. 10Find the mistakeGrammar exercise
  11. 11Say it naturallySpeaking practice
  12. 12An object with a storySpeaking practice
  13. 13About youGrammar exercise
  14. 14Wrap-up

Homework

  1. 1Homework: about our bookstoreGrammar exercise
  2. 2Homework: which sentence is correct?Grammar exercise
  3. 3Homework: build the sentencesGrammar exercise
  4. 4Homework: an "About us" pageDiscussion

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

A few questions about you before we start.

  1. Do you know any family businesses in your town? What do they sell?
  2. Do you prefer to buy cheap things, or things that will last for years?
  3. What do you know about the history of your town or your family?

Grammar rule

Participle clauses

A participle clause has no subject and no tense of its own. It gives the time, the reason, a result or a description in a short way. Its subject is the subject of the main clause.

FormMeaningExample
-ingactive: at the same time, or the reasonSmiling at the crowd, the mayor cut the ribbon. (= while she smiled)
-ing after the main clausea result, or something at the same timeShe won the race, beating her own best time by ten seconds.
past participlepassiveGrown without chemicals, these apples cost a little more. (= they are grown)
having + past participlethe earlier action, often the reasonHaving checked the weather, the pilot canceled the flight.
not + participlethe negativeNot trusting the old bridge, we drove the long way around.

After a noun: short relative clauses

FormMeaningExample
noun + -ingwho / which / that + an active verbPassengers traveling with small children can board first. (= who are traveling)
noun + past participlewho / which / that + a passive verbThe money raised at the fair will go to the library. (= that was raised)

Watch out

  • Keep the same subject: Walking into the store, the smell of coffee surprised me (the smell wasn't walking) → Walking into the store, I noticed the smell of coffee.
  • -ing is active, and the past participle is passive: Painting in 1870, the picture… → Painted in 1870 (the picture was painted).
  • After having, the past participle: Having wrote the letter → Having written the letter.
  • Only a clause with who / which / that as its subject can be shortened: the man who is talking → the man talking, but the man (that) I met stays as it is.
  • Participle clauses are more common in writing (history pages, news, stories) than in conversation.

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