Every learner of English ought to know the difference between participial construction and absolute construction . These two constructions are the source of many an error often committed by English - users.
What is participial construction? It is a common type of sentence construction in English . It consists of a participial phrase or clause followed by the main clause. The participle may be present participle ( - ing) or past participle ( -ed or -en). Look at these sentences :
*Singing loudly, John entered the room .
*Tired from work, Kate went to bed early.
*Having read the book, she returned it to the library.
The first part of the sentence is called a participial phrase. The verbs in participial phrases are in the participle forms, present or past, and their subjects (not mentioned) are always the same as the subjects in the main clauses. So , remember that if you put a noun or pronoun other than the real subject (that is, subject of the participial phrase) at the beginning of the main clause, it may result in confusion ! Look at this sentence :
Walking in the grass, a snake bit her .
What impression do you get? Was the snake walking? If you re-write the sentence as
Walking in the grass, she was bitten by a snake
the sentence would make sense .
Now, let me discuss Absolute Construction. This type of sentence construction makes use of absolute phrases. What is an absolute phrase? Well, it is different from participial phrases in that it explicitly mentions the subject. The subject is never mentioned in participial phrases. For example, "being rich" is a participial phrase , "he being rich" is an absolute phrase. Another difference between participial construction and absolute construction is that the subjects of absolute phrases are always different from those of their main clauses. For this reason the syntactic relation between the absolute phrase and the main clause is always a fragile one. Hence the name absolute construction. You know absolute means "independent" or "not related " etc. The absolute phrases serves to give additional details in a hurried manner, so to speak. Nonetheless, there is a strong semantic relation between the absolute phrase and the main clause. Look at these sentences:
*The party being over, the guests began to depart.
*Her husband being away, she felt lonely and miserable.
*All government offices will remain closed tomorrow, tomorrow being a holiday.
*The doctor having arrived, she looked happy and cheerful.
Make up 3 sentences with the absolute construction and post them below.
1) The party being over, John began to dance.
ReplyDelete2)Carol laughed, her eyes sparkling attractively.
3)At first, being little accustomed to learn by heart, the lessons appeared to me both long and difficult.
1) Weather permitting, we will have a barbecue tomorrow. 2) All things considered, it's not a bad idea. 3) This being the case, let us go.
ReplyDelete1. Weather permitting, the match will take place next week.
ReplyDelete2. Being in bad form, he cannot participate in the championship.
3. Having crossed the river, she ran across the fields towards the houses.
1)The sun having set they made a fire.
ReplyDelete2)He left the room the dog following him.
3)He set at the fire-place, his favorite German Shepherd at his feet.
1 The party's been over for two hours and we're still busy taking things down.
ReplyDelete2 Weather permitting, we will have a barbecue tomorrow.
3 Let's set this place on fire
1. The lesson being over, we went to home.
ReplyDelete2. The weather improving, they had a picnic in the park.
3. The work being done, she felt very tired.
1-The film being over, we went to sleep.
ReplyDelete2-Angry from situation, she left the room.
3-Cooking happily, she waited for her husband.