Reduced adjective clauses with participial constructions

Want to make your sentences more fluent and sophisticated? Reduced adjective clauses with participial constructions help you sound more natural and concise by eliminating unnecessary words while keeping the meaning clear. Mastering this technique will enhance both your writing and speaking skills!

1. Reduction with the Present Participle (-ing)

Use the present participle when the relative clause describes an action performed by the subject itself.

Full clause: The girl who is sitting at the back of the class is my best friend.

Reduced: The girl sitting at the back of the class is my best friend.

Full clause: The students who are preparing for the exam are nervous.

Reduced: The students preparing for the exam are nervous.

Rule:

Remove the relative pronoun (who, which, that).

Omit "be" (is, are, was, were).

Keep the main verb in its -ing form.

Caution:

The participle phrase must directly follow the noun it modifies. Otherwise, it may lead to dangling modifiers (phrases that seem to describe the wrong noun).

Sitting at the back of the class, my best friend is the girl. (Incorrect)

The girl sitting at the back of the class is my best friend. (Correct)

2. Reduction with the Past Participle (-ed/V3)

Use the past participle when the relative clause contains a passive voice structure (when the subject receives the action).

Full clause: The book that was written by Mark Twain is a classic.

Reduced: The book written by Mark Twain is a classic.

Full clause: The movie that was directed by Steven Spielberg won an award.

Reduced: The movie directed by Steven Spielberg won an award.

Rule:

Remove the relative pronoun (that, which, who).

Remove "be" (was, were, is, are).

Keep the main verb in its past participle form.

Caution:

This form only works with passive constructions. If the sentence is in active voice, use the -ing form instead.

The man who is chasing the criminal → The man chased the criminal. (Incorrect)

The man chasing the criminal is a police officer. (Correct)

3. Reduction with the Perfect Participle (Having + Past Participle)

Use "having + past participle" when the action in the relative clause happened before the main action.

Full clause: The woman who had studied abroad got the job easily.

Reduced: The woman having studied abroad got the job easily.

Full clause: The students who had completed their research presented their findings.

Reduced: The students having completed their research presented their findings.

Rule:

Remove the relative pronoun (who, which, that).

Replace "had + past participle" with "having + past participle".

Caution:

This structure is only used when one action precedes another and is relatively rare compared to the first two forms.

Practice using reduced adjective clauses with participial constructions in appropriate contexts to improve your writing skills and make your sentences more concise and engaging. As you become more proficient, you'll be able to use this technique effectively to enhance your language expression.