Posts Tagged ‘Participles’

Joining two sentences using a participle

August 7th, 2011 in English Grammar

Study the following sentences.

The thief heard a noise. He ran away.
Hearing a noise, the thief ran away.

To get the third sentence we combine the first two sentences. This process is called synthesis. It is the opposite of analysis. Synthesis means the combination of two or more simple sentences into one new sentence – simple, compound or complex.

Ways of combining two or more simple sentences into one simple sentence

By using a participle
This method is possible only when the sentences have a common subject.

Study the following sentences.

The boy saw a snake. He screamed.
Seeing a snake the boy screamed.

She worked hard. She won the first prize.
Having worked hard she won the first prize.

The merchant jumped on his horse. He rode to the market.
Jumping on his horse, the merchant rode to the market.

The thief cut through the padlock. He opened the wooden door.
Cutting through the padlock, the thief opened the wooden door.

He disguised himself as a cleaner. He entered the bank.
Having disguised himself as a cleaner, he entered the bank.

She drove as quickly as possible. She arrived just in time.
Driving as quickly as possible, she arrived just in time.