Unit 68. -ing clauses (Feeling tired, I went to bed early.)

Unit 68; Part A

Study these situations:
Joe was playing football. He hurt his knee. You can say:
• Joe hurt his knee playing football.

You were feeling tired. So you went to bed early. You can say:
• Feeling tired, I went to bed early.

'Playing football' and 'feeling tired' are -ing clauses.
If the -ing clause is at the beginning of the sentence (as in the second example), we write a comma (,) after it.

Unit 68; Part B

When two things happen at the same time, you can use an -ing clause.

•    Kate is in the kitchen making coffee.
   (= she is in the kitchen and she is making coffee)
•    A man ran out of the house shouting.
   (= he ran out of the house and he was shouting)
•    Do something! Don't just stand there doing nothing!

We also use -ing when one action happens during another action. We use -ing for the longer action:
•    Joe hurt his knee playing football. (= while he was playing)
•    Did you cut yourself shaving? (= while you were shaving)

You can also use -ing after while or when:
•    Jim hurt his knee while playing football.
•    Be careful when crossing the road. (when you are crossing)

Unit 68; Part C

When one action happens before another action, we use having (done) for the first action:

•    Having found a hotel, we looked for somewhere to have dinner.
•    Having finished her work, she went home.

You can also say after -ing:
•    After finishing her work, she went home.

If one short action follows another short action, you can use the simple -ing form (doing instead of having done) for the first action:
•    Taking a key out of his pocket, he opened the door.

These structures are used more in written English than in spoken English.

Unit 68; Part D

You can use an -ing clause to explain something, or to say why somebody does something. The -ing clause usually comes at the beginning of the sentence:
•    Feeling tired, I went to bed early. (= because I felt tired)
•    Being unemployed, he hasn't got much money. (= because he is unemployed)
•    Not having a car, she finds it difficult to get around. (= because she doesn't have a car)
•    Having already seen the film twice, I didn't want to go to the cinema. (= because I had already seen it twice)

These structures are used more in written English than in spoken English.

Exercises

1 Choose from Box A and Box В to make sentences.

Choose from Box A and Box В to make sentences. Use an -ing clause.

A
1    ~~Kate was in the kitchen.~~
2    Diane was sitting in an armchair.
3    Sue opened the door carefully.
4    Sarah went out.
5    Linda was in London tor two years.
6    Mary walked around the town.

В
She was trying nor to make a noise.
She looked at the sights and took photographs.
She said she would be back in an hour.
She was reading a book.
~~She was making coffee.~~
She worked as a tourist guide.

1    Kate was in the kitchen making coffee.
2    Diane was sirring _________________________
3    Sue _____________________________________
4    _________________________________________
5    _________________________________________
6    _________________________________________

2 Make one sentence from two using an -ing clause.

Make one sentence from two using an -ing clause.

1    Joe was playing football. He hurt his knee.
Joe hurt his knee playing football.
2    I was watching television. I fell asleep.
     I ____________________________________
3    A friend of mine slipped and fell. He was getting off a bus.
     A friend of mine ____________________________________
4    I was walking home in the rain. I got very wet.
      ____________________________________
5    Laura was driving ro work yesterday. She had an accident.
      ____________________________________
6    Two firefighters were overcome by smoke. They were trying to put out the fire.
      ____________________________________

3 Make sentences beginning Having ... .

Make sentences beginning Having ... .

1    She finished her work. Then she went home.
   Having finished her work, she went home.
2    We bought our tickets. Then we went into the theatre.
     ________________________________________
3    They had dinner and then they continued their journey.
     ________________________________________
4    After I'd done the shopping, I went for a cup of coffee.
     ________________________________________

4 Make sentences beginning -ing or Not -ing.

Make sentences beginning -ing or Not -ing (like those in Section D). Sometimes you need to begin with Having (done something).

1    I felt tired. So I went to bed early.
      Feeling tired, I went to bed early.
2    I thought they might be hungry. So I offered them something to eat.
      ________________________________
3    She is a foreigner. So she needs a visa to work in this country.
      ________________________________
4    I didn't know his phone number. So I wasn't able to contact him.
      ________________________________
5    Sarah has travelled a lot. So she knows a lot about other countries.
      ________________________________
6    I wasn't able to speak the local language. So I had trouble communicating.
      ________________________________
7    We had spent nearly all our money. So we couldn't afford to stay at a hotel.
      ________________________________

Unit 67 Unit 68 Unit 69

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