Participle clauses: having planned everything – participle clause exercises for shorter sentences

This B2 drill lesson gives participle clause exercises: Walking home, I…, Built in 1900, the house…, Having finished, she… and the man sitting by the window.

Grammar: -ing for active, same-time actions, the past participle for passive ones, having + past participle for finished first, shorter relative clauses, and one subject for both parts.
Topic: Crime fiction: a page from an invented heist novel, its back cover, a reader's review, the next page and a chat with Tallulah.
Activities: Rewrites, sorting, choices, gap-fills, matching, word order, tables, correct-or-dangling sorts, find-the-mistake quizzes, memory games, an anagram, drag-and-drop texts, a chat and a test.

What's inside

Chapter 1The rule
- PictureUnlock
- Study the scheme: participle clausesGrammar schemeTry it
- Is the sentence correct? Mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
- Sort the sentences: -ing, past participle or having done?Sort into columnsTry it
- Choose the right participleChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: the participleFill in the gapsUnlock
Chapter 2Walking home, I…
- Write the sentences again with an -ing clauseFill in the gapsTry it
- Match the beginnings and the endings: -ing clausesMatchUnlock
- Choose the right form: -ing, being and notChoose the optionUnlock
- Read the hiking blog post and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
- Put the words in the right order: -ing clausesUnjumbleUnlock
- Find the mistake and choose the right words: -ing clausesQuizUnlock
Chapter 3Done to it or done before?
- Choose -ing or the past participle: active or passive?Choose the optionTry it
- Fill in the gaps: having + past participleFill in the gapsUnlock
- Fill in the table: two sentences into oneFill in the tableUnlock
- Choose -ing or having done: same time or before?Choose the optionUnlock
- Match the pairs: same meaningMatchUnlock
- Choose the right sentence for the situationQuizUnlock
- Read the zoo sign and fill in the gapsFill in the gapsUnlock
Chapter 4The man sitting there
- Choose the right form: the man sitting thereChoose the optionUnlock
- Write the sentences again without who, which or thatFill in the gapsUnlock
- Sort the sentences: correct or dangling?Sort into columnsUnlock
- Read the library notice and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropTry it
- Put the words in the right order: shorter relative clausesUnjumbleUnlock
- Choose the correct sentence: no dangling participlesQuizUnlock
- Find the matching pairs: shorter relative clausesMemory gameUnlock
Chapter 5Real life: The Varnholt swap
- Read a page from the crime novelReal-life documentUnlock
- Read the page again: true or false?True or falseUnlock
- Read the back cover and fill in the gapsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Read the reader's review and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
- Read the next page and choose the right wordsChoose the optionUnlock
- Choose the right replies: Tallulah texts youChatTry it
- Test yourself: choose the right answerQuizUnlock
Chapter 6Homework
- Choose the right participle: everyday lifeChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: -ing, past participle or having doneFill in the gapsUnlock
- Sort the sentences: correct or incorrect?Sort into columnsUnlock
- Put the words in the right order: participle clausesUnjumbleUnlock
- Fill in the table: shorter sentencesFill in the tableUnlock
- Match the beginnings and the endings: everyday storiesMatchUnlock
- Find the mistake and choose the right words: everyday EnglishQuizUnlock
- Find the matching pairs: two ways to say itMemory gameUnlock
- Unscramble the words: past participlesAnagramUnlock
- Drag the words into the gaps: participle clausesDrag and dropUnlock
- Is the sentence correct? Mark true or false: in the newsTrue or falseUnlock
- Read the news story and fill in the gapsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Read Rasmus's ad and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
- Choose -ing or having done: travel storiesChoose the optionUnlock
- Write the sentences again with a participle clauseFill in the gapsUnlock

Grammar: participle clauses: -ing, done and having done

Participle clauses say more in fewer words: Walking to work, I met an old friend means while I was walking. The clause can stand for when, because, after or if, but it has no subject of its own, so it takes the subject of the main clause.

Participle clauses: having planned everything

Say more in fewer words: -ing, past participle and having done clauses, and shorter relative clauses like the man sitting by the window.

-ing, past participle or having done?

-ing is active. The past participle is passive: Built in 1900, the house needs a new roof. Having + past participle is active and finished first: Having finished the report, she went home. In the negative, not comes first: Not knowing what to do, we called Dad.

Form	Meaning	Example
-ing	active: the subject does it, at the same time	Walking to work, I met an old friend. (= while I was walking)
past participle (painted, built, written…)	passive: something is done to the subject	Built in 1900, the house needs a new roof. (= it was built)
having + past participle	active: finished before the main action	Having finished the report, she went home. (= after she had finished)
having been + past participle	passive: finished before the main action	Having been told to wait, he sat down. (= after he had been told)
not + participle	the negative: not comes first	Not knowing what to do, we called Dad.

Same time or finished first?

-ing is for the same time, Lying on the beach, she fell asleep, or one quick action right before the next. Having done marks a longer action that is completely over, often with already, for or twice: Having lived in Tokyo for ten years, she knew the city well.

-ing: at the same time

Lying on the beach, she fell asleep. (= while she was lying there)
Opening the box, she saw the ring.
One quick action right before the next is fine too: Taking out a key, he opened the door.

having done: finished first

Having lived in Tokyo for ten years, she knew the city well.
Having already packed, Sam went to bed early.
Use it for a longer action, or with already, for… or twice: the first action is completely over.

Time, reason, result or if

Time: Arriving home, I found the door open. Reason: Feeling sick, I stayed at home. A result, after a comma: He dropped the vase, breaking it into pieces. And if, with a past participle: Used carefully, this knife will last for years.

time (= when, while, after): Arriving home, I found the door open.
reason (= because, as): Feeling sick, I stayed at home. · Being a nurse, she knew what to do.
result, after a comma (= and so): He dropped the vase, breaking it into pieces.
if, with a past participle: Used carefully, this knife will last for years.

Shorter relative clauses: the man sitting there

Drop who is, that was and the like, and keep the participle: the man sitting by the window, a letter written in pencil, the car parked outside. A present simple verb becomes -ing too: people living in big cities.

Relative clause	With a participle
the man who is sitting by the window	the man sitting by the window
people who live in big cities	people living in big cities
a letter that was written in pencil	a letter written in pencil
the car that is parked outside	the car parked outside
anyone who wants a ticket	anyone wanting a ticket

One subject, and no dangling participles

Both parts share the same subject: Hearing a noise, the guard stood up. Walking home, the rain started is wrong, because the rain wasn't walking. Also watch for Having finish the work, Surprising by the news and Knowing not the answer.

One subject for both parts

participle clause,the same subject + verb

Hearing a noise, the guard stood up. (The guard heard it.)

Signed by the whole team, the ball is now in a museum. (The ball was signed.)

Having fed the cat, Josh left for work. (Josh fed it first.)

Don't let the participle dangle

A participle clause has no subject of its own: it takes the subject of the main clause. Sitting in the garden, a bee stung me. ✗ (The bee wasn't sitting there!) → Sitting in the garden, I got stung by a bee. ✓ The same with a past participle: Built in 1900, I bought the house. ✗ → I bought a house built in 1900. ✓

Common mistakes

Walking home, the rain started.
Walking home, I got caught in the rain.
the same subject in both parts: the rain wasn't walking
Having finish the work, she left.
Having finished the work, she left.
having + past participle
Surprising by the news, Ana didn't say a word.
Surprised by the news, Ana didn't say a word.
Ana was surprised: passive → past participle
Knowing not the answer, I said nothing.
Not knowing the answer, I said nothing.
not goes before the participle

Examples

Not wanting to miss the train, he ran all the way to the station.reason: because he didn't want to miss it
Having read the reviews, we booked a different hotel.finished first: after we had read them
Written in 1925, the novel is still popular today.passive: it was written
Seen from the plane, the city looked tiny.passive: when it was seen
Grandpa sat by the fire, telling stories about the old days.at the same time
Who's the guy playing the piano?= who is playing

Try the participle clause exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

What's in the lesson

39 auto-checked exercises
6 games
1 real-life document
1 grammar scheme
1 picture

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

join two actions with an -ing clause: Hearing the fire alarm, everyone left the building at once.
use the past participle for a passive meaning: Written in pencil, the note was hard to read, not Writing in pencil
show that one action finished first with having + past participle: Having missed the last train, we spent the night at the station.
shorten a relative clause: The woman cutting my hair today is new. The bike stolen from our garage was found in the park.
keep one subject for both parts: Walking through the park, we saw a family of ducks, not Walking through the park, the sun came out

Grammar:: participle clauses · present participle (-ing) · past participle · having + past participle · reduced relative clauses
Topic:: grammar practice · crime fiction · stories and novels · describing actions

Teaching tips

Narrate a mime: one student acts out two actions, such as opening a box and then smiling, and the class describes it in one sentence: Opening the box, she smiled.
Ask who does the action: before each gap, students say whether the main subject does it (-ing or having) or has it done to it (the past participle).
Draw the dangling sentences: after the correct-or-dangling sort, pairs sketch one wrong sentence as a cartoon (the sun walking through the park), then rewrite it correctly.

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The whole course: English Grammar Practice · B2

English Grammar Practice · B2 has 24 drill lessons, one grammar point each: the future perfect and continuous, the third and mixed conditionals, wishes, past modals, the impersonal passive, have something done, participle clauses, reporting verbs and verb patterns. Each has the rule as a scheme, 43 to 47 exercises that check themselves, 15 of them for homework, and no new words.See the course

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