Invited to the workshop, Eva changed her plans. Having checked the dates, she booked a room. These participle clauses add background information without a full because, after or if clause. Use the form that keeps the subject, timing and active or passive meaning clear.
A participle is a verb form such as invited, taken or checking. A participle clause can add information to a main clause. This page covers past participles and perfect participles. See -ing clauses: waiting, knowing, causing for present-participle clauses such as Waiting outside, I read the notice.
| Kind | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Past participle | regular -ed or an irregular form | Asked about the route, I showed her the map. |
| Perfect active | having + past participle | Having packed my bag, I called a taxi. |
| Perfect passive | having been + past participle | Having been selected, I joined the team. |
These forms do not show tense by themselves. The main clause and the situation supply the time. In the examples above, showed, called and joined put the main events in the past. A perfect participle marks an earlier action; having is not a present-tense verb here.
In the subjectless clauses taught below, the understood subject is the subject of the main clause. Check that connection before shortening a full sentence.
Past participle clauses normally have a passive meaning: someone or something receives an action. They can also describe a resulting state. Regular past participles end in -ed; irregular forms include given, seen and taken. Use the participle, not simply any past-tense form.
The words after the participle can include a by phrase naming the person or thing responsible, but a by phrase is not required. Choose a full clause if the short version leaves the connection unclear.
A past participle clause can have a meaning like if. It describes the condition under which the main statement is true, rather than saying that the condition has already happened.
You can keep if to make the condition explicit. Cambridge also gives non-finite clauses after although and though; those express contrast, not condition.
Do not confuse their contrast meaning with the condition expressed by if.
Use having + past participle to show that one action happened before the main action. The subject does both actions. The earlier action can also explain the later one.
You do not need a second subject or an ordinary tense after having. Having saved is a non-finite form; having I saved and having saved I are not the pattern here.
A full after or because clause is also possible. An after + -ing clause can show the same order without having.
Use having been + past participle when the subject received the earlier action.
Compare having repaired the printer with having been repaired. In the active version, the understood subject does the repair. In the passive version, it receives the repair.
Been is not always passive. Having been a volunteer describes an earlier role; there is no passive action in been a volunteer. The passive pattern here requires a past participle after been.
Put not before the participle construction when you want to make that construction negative.
Keep the negative with the meaning you intend. Not having received a reply does not mean having received a negative reply.
A simple -ing clause can show actions happening together. A perfect clause makes the earlier action explicit. Read the full situation rather than choosing the longer form because it looks more advanced.
| Sentence | Timing |
|---|---|
| Sorting the photos, I listened to a podcast. | The sorting and listening happened together. |
| Having sorted the photos, I uploaded the album. | The sorting happened before the upload. |
A past participle such as invited does not itself mean past time. Invited to next month's event, I will need to book a train uses a present situation and a future main action. Use the main clause and any time words to work out when things happen.
For an opening clause without its own subject, put the intended subject at the start of the main clause. Otherwise you can accidentally make a phone, building or other object seem to do a person's action.
Having checked the lock, the door was closed would suggest that the door checked the lock. Write Omar checked the lock and closed the door if that is what you mean.
Put a comma after an opening participle clause. Extra information inserted after the subject has a comma on each side.
Keep the participle close to the person or thing it describes. Descriptions directly after a noun, such as the files saved yesterday, belong to the noun and do not have to describe the main-clause subject. See Reduced relative clauses: people waiting, a letter sent yesterday.
The same-subject guidance here is for clauses without their own stated subject. Formal constructions can have an explicit subject, as in The meeting having ended, the cleaners entered. Do not treat that separate construction as a dangling modifier. A full clause, After the meeting ended, the cleaners entered, is another option.
British Council describes participle clauses as mainly written, especially in literary, academic and journalistic styles. A full because, after or if clause is still useful when it makes the relationship clearer. Concision is not a reason to hide who did something or change the sequence of events.
✗Having wrote the address down, I closed the message.
✓Having written the address down, I closed the message.
Use the past participle written after having, not the past-tense form wrote.
✗Having been tell the result, we left.
✓Having been told the result, we left.
The perfect passive needs having been + past participle.
✗Having checked the map, the journey began.
✓Having checked the map, we began the journey.
In this subjectless opening, we must be the people who checked the map.
✗Not received a reply, I sent a reminder.
✓Not having received a reply, I sent a reminder.
For this earlier active meaning, use not having received.
See -ing clauses: waiting, knowing, causing for present participles, Reduced relative clauses: people waiting, a letter sent yesterday for descriptions after nouns, and The passive: be + past participle and Advanced passives: get-passive, be supposed to and more for passive verb forms in full clauses.
Eight questions. Choose one answer for each.