In the introduction to last week’s episode of Linguists’ Forum, attention was on the importance of using participle clauses to achieve concise writing. Being able to write concisely can guarantee high scores in NECO, WASSCE and IELTS. The episode also presented the participle clause as a subordinate (dependent) clause that begins with a participle to provide additional information to the subject or the action in the main clause of a sentence. Last week’s episode specifically highlights the categories of participle clauses, emphasising the present participle type, its functions and how it can be used correctly in sentences. Today’s episode further explains the concept by focusing on the other types of participle clauses, viz.
Past Participle Clause
This type of participle clause begins with the past participle (the third) form of the verb, as in:
teach, taught, “taught”
see, saw, “seen”
come, came, “come”
start, started, “started”
get, got, “got”
write, wrote, “written”
Past participle clauses can be used to:
1. give reason for the action in the main verb, e.g.
(i) Because he was wanted by the police, the accused ran to a neighbouring country.
= “Wanted by the police,” the accused ran to a neighbouring country (past participle {concise} clause).
(ii) Because she was owed a month’s salary, Habiba stopped going to the factory.
= “Owed a month’s salary,” Habiba stopped going to the factory (past participle {concise} clause).
2. provide additional information to the subject of the verb in the main clause of the sentence, e.g.
“Abandoned by her husband,” the woman was supported with a grant.
3. state the condition for the action in the main clause to take place, e.g.
If the staff succeeded in the exam, they would be promoted.
= “Succeeded in the exam,” the staff would be promoted.
Perfect Participle Clauses
This is used when the action in the participle clause had been completed before the action in the main clause started. The perfect participle clauses are of two types.
(a) Perfect Active Participle Clause: This has the following structure:
Having + participle form of the verb, i.e.
having + taught
having + got
having + met
having + started
having + written
Let us consider the following examples:
i. After Chika had got admission into the university, she visited her parents for financial support.
= “Having got admission into the university,” Chika visited her parents for financial support (perfect active participle {concise} clause).
ii. After Chief Adebutu had clocked 90, he organised a party at Eko Hotel in Lagos.
= “Having clocked 90,” Chief Adebutu organised a party at Eko Hotel in Lagos (perfect active participle {concise} clause).
(b) Perfect Passive Participle Clause: It has the following structure:
having + been + taught
having + been + met
having + been + warned
having + been + caught
Examples of perfect passive participle clauses are:
i. After Prof. Amupitan had been sworn in by the President, he was interviewed on Channels Television.
= “Having been sworn in by the President,” Prof. Amupitan was interviewed on Channels Television (perfect passive participle {concise} clause).
ii. After the politician had been defeated in the last election, he was advised to dump his political party.
= “Having been defeated in the last election,” the politician was advised to dump his political party (perfect passive participle {concise} clause).
Takeaways
• The subjects in the participle clauses are usually the same as the subjects of the verbs in the main clauses to which they function as subordinate (dependent) clauses.
• Participle clauses should be close to the subjects they modify to avoid ambiguity and cases of dangling modifiers.
• Participle clauses are effective tools for concise writing. Candidates who use them correctly in national and international examinations can score high in the examinations. Hence, the importance of studying them cannot be overemphasised.