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Participle Relative Clauses

Relative clauses Lesson: "Participle Relative Clauses"
Participle Relative Clauses

Active participles
We can use an active participle in a shortened relative clause.
  • Who are those people taking photos over there?
(= those people who are taking photos]
  • The official took no notice of the telephone ringing on his desk.
(= the telephone that was ringing on his desk)

The participle can refer to the present [are taking] or the past (was ringing).

The active participle can refer to a state as well as an action.
  • All the equipment belonging to the club was stolen.
(= all the equipment that belongs to the club)
  • Fans wanting to buy tickets started queuing early.
(= fans who wanted to buy tickets)

We can also use it to report a message.
  • We received a letter telling us about the arrangements.
  • They've put up a sign warning of the danger.
We can sometimes use the active participle for a repeated action.
  • People travelling into London every day are used to the hold-ups.
(= people who travel into London every day)

But we do not normally use the active participle for a single complete action.
  • The man who escaped from prison is said to be dangerous.
(NOT the man escaping from prison is said to be dangerous)


Note

We can use this kind of relative clause in a sentence with there + be.
  • There were some people taking photos
Passive participles
We can use a passive participle in a shortened relative clause.
  • Applications received after the deadline cannot be considered.
(= applications which are received after the deadline)
  • The first British TV commercial, broadcast in I955, Was for toothpaste.
(= which was broadcast in 1955)
  • Police are trying no identify a body recovered pom the river.
(= a body which has been recovered from the river)

We can use the passive participle for both single and repeated actions.
NOTE
We can also use a continuous from all the passive participle.
  • Transport policy as the subject being discussed in a parliament of afternoon.
Word order with participles
We can sometimes put a participle before a noun. Like an adjective.
  • We could hear the sound of running water.
We can also put it after the noun in a shortened relative clause.
  • We could hear the sound of water running through the pipes
When the participle has a phrase of more than one word with it, then it cannot come before the noun.
(not we could hear the sound through the pipes running water) 

Read More ...
Types of relative clause
Infinitive Relative Clauses