Participial Constructions — Four Basic Uses

A participial construction is an expression that compresses a conjunction + clause into a participial phrase. Let us master its four uses: time, reason, condition, and accompanying circumstances.

Basic Rules

Formation: conjunction clause → remove the conjunction → remove the subject (if it is the same as the subject of the main clause) → change the verb to -ing.
① Time: “Walking along the street, I met her.”
② Reason: “Feeling tired, he went to bed early.”
③ Condition: “Turning right, you'll find the library.”
④ Accompanying circumstances: “She sat on the bench, reading a book.”
⑤ Perfect participial construction: Having + p.p. → an action before the main clause. “Having finished his homework, he went out.”

Points to Note

① Negation: not + present participle. “Not having enough money, he couldn't buy it.”
② Passive participial construction: Being + p.p., or omit Being and use only the past participle. “Written in easy English, this book is suitable for beginners.”
③ Dangling participle: It is incorrect when the logical subject of the participle differs from the subject of the main clause. “Walking along the street, a dog bit me.” ← Incorrect (this means that the dog was walking)
④ with + object + participle: “She studied with music playing.”

Practice

1. Translate “Because he had finished his homework, he went outside to play” into English using a perfect participial construction.
2. Rewrite the following as a participial construction: Because she didn't know his address, she couldn't send him a card.
3. Translate “I ran while listening to music” into English using with.