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Unit 14
Reduced Clauses
participles & concise expression
What are Reduced Clauses?
Reduced clauses make writing concise by turning full clauses into shorter phrases without changing meaning. They are common in academic writing, reports, and fluent speech.
Students who study hard succeed. → Students studying hard succeed.
Reducing Adjective Clauses (Active)
Who/which/that + verb → -ing form
| Full clause | Reduced form |
|---|---|
| The man who teaches English is friendly. | The man teaching English is friendly. |
| Students who work hard succeed. | Students working hard succeed. |
| The woman who lives next door is a doctor. | The woman living next door is a doctor. |
Reducing Adjective Clauses (Passive)
That + be + past participle → past participle alone
| Full clause | Reduced form |
|---|---|
| The books that were written by him are famous. | The books written by him are famous. |
| The cars that were produced in Japan are reliable. | The cars produced in Japan are reliable. |
| The man who was arrested is innocent. | The man arrested is innocent. |
Reducing Adverb Clauses
When the subject is the same in both clauses, reduce the adverb clause to a participial phrase.
| Type | Full clause | Reduced form |
|---|---|---|
| Time | After he finished his work, he left. | After finishing his work, he left. |
| Reason | Because she felt tired, she stayed home. | Feeling tired, she stayed home. |
| Condition | If you are given the chance, take it. | Given the chance, take it. |
| Cause | Since he was late, he missed the train. | Being late, he missed the train. |
Reducing to Infinitive (Purpose)
| Full clause | Reduced (infinitive) |
|---|---|
| He went to the store so that he could buy milk. | He went to the store to buy milk. |
| She worked hard so that she could pass. | She worked hard to pass. |
| He stopped because he wanted to rest. | He stopped to rest. |
When NOT to Reduce
Never reduce if the subjects are different — this creates a dangling participle.
| Wrong ❌ | Correct ✅ |
|---|---|
| Walking home, the phone rang. (phone doesn't walk!) | While I was walking home, the phone rang. |
| Raining heavily, we stayed inside. (we don't rain) | Because it was raining heavily, we stayed inside. |
Perfect Participles, Negatives & With + Noun + -ing
| Form | Example | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Having + past participle | Having finished the report, she went home. | one action clearly before another |
| Having been + past participle | Having been warned, we took an umbrella. | passive, earlier action |
| Not + -ing | Not knowing what to do, I called my dad. | negative reason |
| while / when / before / since + -ing | While waiting for the bus, I read the news. | keep the conjunction for clarity |
| With + noun + -ing / pp | With prices rising, people are spending less. | background situation (different subject) |
Annotated Examples
Subject
Verb
Auxiliary
Object
Adjective
Adverb
Preposition
Hover over any word to see its role.
subjectThe womanverbliving next doorverbis a doctor.
↳ Reduced active relative clause: who lives → living.
subjectThe booksverbwritten by herverbare bestsellers.
↳ Reduced passive relative clause: that were written → written.
verbFeeling tired,subjectsheverbwent to bed early.
↳ Reduced adverb clause: because she felt → feeling.
Common Mistakes
The car producing in Japan is new.
→
The car produced in Japan is new.
Passive reduction → past participle: produced.
After finish his work, he left.
→
After finishing his work, he left.
-ing form needed: finishing.
Because being tired, she slept.
→
Being tired, she slept.
Remove "because" when using participial phrase.
Walking, the phone rang. (different subjects)
→
While I was walking, the phone rang.
Different subjects cannot be reduced — it creates a dangling participle.
The student studied hard passing the test.
→
The student studied hard to pass the test.
Purpose = infinitive: to pass.
Having finish the work, he left.
→
Having finished the work, he left.
Having + past participle.
Not know the answer, I guessed.
→
Not knowing the answer, I guessed.
Negative participle: not + -ing.