Participles

• Not very common in spoken English but very popular in written English (particularly in a literary, academic or journalistic style).

• They allow us to express condition, reason, cause, result or time similarly to full adverbial clauses, only with fewer words.

• We can use them when both clauses have the same subject.

What are the three types of participles?

• This is one of the most common participle clauses. We can use them to refer to the present or the past.

• They have a similar meaning to active verbs.

Being such a great singer, she didn't have problems finding a job.

Talking to you, I always feel better.

• These usually replace a sentence with a verb in the passive voice.

• They can often be replaced by relative clauses.

Impressed by the painting, John praised the artist. (=He was impressed by the painting.)

John, who was impressed by the painting, praised the artist.

• These are used to emphasise that one action was previous to another.

• These clauses are commonly used to express the cause of a second action.

• They can be structured to make an active or passive meaning.

Having finished their training, they will be fully qualified doctors.

Having been made redundant, she started looking for a new job.

• It's common to have the passive structure having been + past participle as an alternative to a since-clause (reason):

Having been unemployed for so long, he felt he would never find a job. (=Since he had been...)