Participial Phrases

Question

Question 1 :Having turned off the tv, he went to bed. OrTurning off the tv, he went to bed.What 's the difference between two sentences?Question 2:Turning off the tv, he went to bed.   &lt;------this should be active voice ?Chased by the police, the thief ran into the bush.  &lt;------------this should be passive voice?Question 3: The tower built in 1998 is the tallest in the city.Can i change it toBuilt in 1998, the tower is the tallest in the city.Million thanks.

Appledean · Accepted Answer

Q1... Not much. The first sounds more natural; the second sounds more prosaic.

Q2... We don't usually say 'being chased by the police' (it sounds a bit strange)... So: when you see the past participle, assume passive even though it isn't there.

Q3... Yes

CalifJim · Answer

7ouDQuestion 1 :
Having turned off the tv, he went to bed.
Or
Turning off the tv, he went to bed.
What 's the difference between two sentences?

The first of the two strikes me as literary and hypercorrect. In both cases the speaker means that he turned off the TV and went to bed. The time gap between the two events seems greater in the first sentence.

7ouDQuestion 2:
Turning off the tv, he went to bed.

...

Chased by the police, the thief ran into the bush.Both are active voice. Voice is determined by the main clause: he went to bed; the thief ran into the bush. The participial constructions that accompany these two sentences are formed with the present participle and the past participle, respectively, but that doesn't determine the voice of the sentence.

7ouDQuestion 3:
The tower built in 1998 is the tallest in the city.
Can I change it to
Built in 1998, the tower is the tallest in the city.
You can.

CJ

7ouD · Answer

Thanks CJ

For question 2, i dont understand when i should start with ING form and ED form.

Founded 200 years ago, the White House is still a symbol of presidency now.
= The White House, which was founded 200 years ago, is still a symbol of presidency now.

As you can see, the original sentence contains " was found ", which is passive.

So can i say Founding 200 years ago, the white house........

I think it's impossible, right?

Thanks!

7ouD · Answer

anyone can help?

CalifJim · Answer

7ouDcan I say Founding 200 years ago, the White House..
I think it's impossible, right?

You are right that it is impossible.

Somebody founded the White House.

NOT The White House founded somebody.

7ouDQuestion 2:

Turning off the tv, he went to bed. <------this should be active voice ?

Chased by the police, the thief ran into the bush. <------------this should be passive voice?'this' refers to the whole sentence. Thus, 'this should be' means 'it is advisable for this sentence to be'.

I think now that you intended to indicate only the sense of the participial construction. As I said above, the sentences are both active. But the sense of the participial in the first sentence is active and the sense of the participial in the second sentence is passive.

Note: The participials are active and passive, respectively. Not, the participials should be (are advised to be) active and passive, respectively.

CJ

7ouD · Answer

Got it thanks. I was confused when preparing the exercise for my students.

That means i should use ED at the beginning if the sense of the participial is passive, whereas ING at the beginning if it is active??

My grammar is not that good. Hope you understand.

Million thanks!

CalifJim · Answer

7ouDThat means I should use ED at the beginning if the sense of the participial is passive, whereas ING at the beginning if it is active?

Yes.

We often use EN (not ED) to indicate the past participle form, by the way. (ED is usually the abbreviation for the simple past.) I know that for most verbs ED is used for both past and past participle, but EN or N is only used for the past participle (eaten, taken, shown, been) so it more uniquely identifies the past participle.

Examples:

ED form EN form

walked walked

took taken

found found

lost lost

ate eaten

threw thrown

forgot forgotten

CJ

7ouD · Answer

Thanks CJ, i got it.

CalifJim · Answer

7ouDThanks CJ, I got it.

OK!

CJ

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