Toral English, 3.3. Grammar: 5- participle clauses / gerunds (exercise 6)

There are two types of participle:

• Past participles (-ed forms)
• Present participles (-ing forms) –These -ing forms are in some cases called gerunds

1. We often use participles to add extra information to the idea in the sentence
   1. Past participle sometimes acts as an adjective.
      • Returned now to national prominence, Groucho embarked on his solo film career
      • Thalberg, impressed with his new friend’s act, helped the Marx Brothers to get established in the movie business
      • Depressed by the situation, Groucho began to suffer from insomnia
      • Made to look out of date by modern comics, old comedians like Chaplin and Groucho Marx are not funny these days
        
   2. Present participle sometimes gives background information, like full adverbial clauses, expressing cause, result, conditions…
      • Feeling hungry, he bought a cake (=because he was feeling hungry…)
      • Desperately attempting to win some money, Groucho met Irving Thalberg
      • Following a film called “The big store”, the Marx Brothers disbanded.
      • Then the stock market crashed, signalling the beginning of the Great depression
   3. They can be used as reduce relative clauses: Adverbial participle clauses sound formal, and are more common in writing than in speech
   1. • I recognise the man sitting over there ( who is sitting over there)
2. “Having + past participle” shows the cause of a second action (or a sequence of actions)
   • Having run the marathon, he was exhausted
   • Having been left behind in Colorado, Groucho had to work his way back home
   • Having been no more than a moderate success, one dayyhey suddenly started cracking jokes on stage
   • Having become famous, comedians get depressed
3. We often use the -ing form (gerund) after conjunctions and prepositions (after, before, when, since, once, without, in spite of…)
   • After suffering a severe stroke, Minnie died
   • After hitting the heights of fame and fortune, suddenly Groucho and his brothers had lost everything
   • Before leaving, he gave me a present
   • He swan in spite of having a sore arm
     
   • When telling a joke, timing is important
   • On being told a joke, you should laugh, even if you don’t think it’s funny
   • After watching Mr Beab and Chaplin, I think physical humour can be as funny as verbal
4. We can use the -ing formas the subject of the sentence
   • Talking is the best therapy
   • Being funny came naturally to them.
   • Growing up with a comedian in the family would have important consequences later
   • As a child, Groucho’s first love was reading
   • Working as a comedian is a great job, because jou make people laugh
     
   • Telling jokes in a foreign language is extremely difficult