Having taken

Question

Having taken the wrong train, I found myself in Bath, not Bristol. Because I had taken the wrong train, I found myself in Bath, not Bristol.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv305.shtml

Is it a reduced relative clause where you remove the form of "to be" and change the main verb to its "ing form"?

I know what the sentence means but have no idea how to convert the forms- having taken... and I had taken...

GPY · Accepted Answer

JigneshbharatiIs it a reduced relative clause where you remove the form of "to be" and change the main verb to its "ing form"?

No, in this pattern the participle comes after the noun it modifies; for example, "the man walking down the street" ( = "the man who is walking down the street"). It is not possible to modify a personal pronoun in this way; for example, you cannot say "I walking down the street". Also, it is very rare (hardly possible) for a perfect participle ("having verb-ed") to be used in this way.

The "train" sentence is grammatically different. Although the participle phrase ("having taken the same train") in a sense modifies the noun (in this case pronoun "I"), by telling us what the noun is doing, or in this case has done, it does not form a noun phrase with it. In other words, while "the man walking down the street" is a noun phrase, "having taken the wrong train, I" is not. The "train" sentence is grammatically analogous to "Walking down the street, the man bumped into an old friend".

CalifJim · Answer

JigneshbharatiHaving taken the wrong train, I found myself in Bath, not Bristol.
Because I had taken the wrong train, I found myself in Bath, not Bristol.

These sentences do not contain any relative clauses, neither full relative clauses nor reduced relative clauses. What you have is an introductory participle clause.

Jigneshbharatihow to convert the forms- having taken... and I had taken...

Theoretically:

An -ing clause implies a tense the same as the tense of the main clause.
A having -en clause implies a tense prior to the tense of the main clause.

Examples:

Watching television, I sometimes fall asleep.
Main clause: present;  -ing clause:  same, i.e., present
While I am watching television, I sometimes fall asleep.
When I watch television, I sometimes fall asleep.

Having seen everything in the museum, I want to leave.
Main clause: present; having -en clause:  prior, i.e., present perfect
Now that I have seen everything in the museum, I want to leave.

Crossing the street, I noticed an unusual car pass by.
Main clause: past; -ing clause: same, i.e., past
While I was crossing the street, I noticed an unusual car pass by.
When I crossed the street, I noticed an unusual car pass by.

Having taken the wrong train, I found myself in Bath.
Main clause: past; having -en clause: prior, i.e., past perfect
Because I had taken the wrong train, I found myself in Bath.

But in practice an -ing clause can act like a having -en clause. The meaning of the sentence will make that clear.

Climbing up the ladder, he was able to reach the chandelier.
(After he (had) climbed up the ladder, he was able to reach the chandelier.)

What I have given you above is a set of formulas, but try to do these first by what you feel is the meaning rather than by the formulas. Then you can check against the formulas later.

CJ

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