ADVERBIAL PARTICIPLE CLAUSES

Adverbial clauses often indicate the reason or cause for the action/state of the main clause, although the conjunctions or prepositions indicating this are not usually there (because, since, after, when, etc.). Such clauses can also be used to describe the sequence of events, or a background activity, something going on at the same time. This construction is quite common in English, but it is not always easy to make it correctly. Remember that the subjects of the two verbs must be identical. This is clear from the original construction: [1] [2] [3] [4] Looking out of the window, we can see mountains. (=When we look out of the window, we can see mountains) Having no more use for the money, he gave it all away. (= Because he had no use ... ) When analysing the inventory rotation days, we see that the company under review performs very well. (= As or while we analyse the ...) Having described the major elements in the balance sheet, we consider it appropriate to state that the figures look very sound indeed. (= After we have described ...)

In the case of a passive sentence, the first verb is a past participle: [5] Built in the sixties, the block of flats was in a very bad state.

If the subjects of the two parts of the sentence are not the same, we leave them in: [6] [7] Brad carrying the material up the stairs, I slowly made my way into the house. Nobody having anything to add, the meeting was closed.

It would be wrong to have no mention of the first subject in the previous example, but it is equally wrong to say: [8] *Looking out of the window of our hotel, there were mountains. [9] *After examining the subjects, it was decided .... [10] *Having completed the study, the bacteria were of no further interest. This mistake is usually referred to as a dangling or misrelated participle, a style error also made by many native speakers of English. Some writers on style indicate degrees of acceptability of adverbial participle constructions:. A) B) C) Correct is the type where both halves refer to the same subject: Knowing this to be the case, we pursued our investigations. Marginally acceptable is the type that refers to the subject of the participle clause only indirectly: (*)Knowing this to be the case, the tests were carried out by our team of experts. Totally unacceptable is the type that refers to two different subjects: *Knowing this to be the case, the tests were carried out accordingly.

It is obviously best to concentrate on the first type alone, because it is least likely to raise objections or cause confusion. However, a number of participles are commonly used in such positions. They include using and based on. Furthermore, some standard phrases with participles are so common that nobody would object to them when not linked as in A or B above. These include according to, considering the facts, generally speaking, given the facts, judging from, provided, regarding and the popular, if rather informal, having said that. See also Wadsworth 755-58. Also compare the following examples: [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] *Having spent the entire budget on maintenance, there was nothing left for R&D. *Having spent the entire budget on maintenance, nothing was left for R&D. Having spent the entire budget on maintenance, we had nothing left for R&D. The entire budget having been spent on maintenance, there was nothing left for R&D. The entire budget having been spent on maintenance, nothing was left for R&D The entire budget having been spent on maintenance, we had nothing left for R&D.

EXERCISE 1 Find some examples of this construction in books or articles you are now reading. EXERCISE 2 Link the following sentences by means of an adverbial participle clause. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Because I was interested to see what would happen, I stayed until the end of the meeting. The man lost interest in his work because he had been passed over in favour of an outsider when a senior position became vacant. The rescue party decided that it would be hopeless to carry out a search while the fog persisted. They put off their rescue bid until the next day. He was brought up in the belief that pleasures were sinful. As a result he now leads an ascetic life. The children had a weeks holiday; the school had been closed because of an influenza epidemic. He was very angry when his car broke down. He had had it serviced only a week before. No one was surprised at the change in bank rate. It had already been confidently expected by investors. I found I had wasted my time going to the sale. The best bargains had already been snapped up earlier in the day. We decided not to visit Oxford, because it was then the time of the summer vacation, and there were few students in residence

EXERCISE 3 The following sentences contain misrelated participles (or another ambiguity). Correct these sentences. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 When reviewing the relevant literature, at least three conclusions can be drawn. Wondering where to go, an advertisement caught my eye. After eating the duck waddled off. Looking at figure 1, it is obvious that there are major differences. Wandering through the streets of Budapest, the influence of the baroque school of architecture is very obvious. Based on the results of phase 2, the module interactions were described using the formal specification language CCS. Employing a straight platinum wire, rabbit, sheep and human blood agar plates were inoculated. Looking at the environment, there are several subthemes. Having dealt with democratic and repressive regimes, special attention is paid to the situation in China. Analysing the data from the questionnaire, it became apparent that ... Using non-invasive screening methods, lesions can be shown in the brains of the patient. Focusing on factor loadings larger than abs .40, a fairly simple factor structure emerged. Two cells proved to be empty when unscrewing them in Groningen. The contents of cells 1-8 were checked for crystals when opening them at the laboratory. While examining all the babies, there was another thing that caught the attention of the researchers. Probably without realising it, participating in traffic may be the most dangerous thing which most people will ever do. We can define it in an analogical way, though being diametrically in contrast. After having been placed in the microscope set-up no further tracer movements were observable. After detaching the cells from the surface with a cell scraper, lysis was inactivated by incubation for 10 minutes at 60C.