Participle constructions to express [ausdrücken] reason and time

Participle constructions can replace relative clauses (mostly in written English). But they can also be used in place [anstelle von] of other sub-clauses [Nebensätze], for example instead of adverbial clauses of reason [Grund] or of time. In German these clauses are called „Kausalsätze“ (resaon) and „Temporalsätze“ (time).

Participle construction to express a reason

#	Adverbial clause construction	Participle construction
1	As [= because] he was listening to loud music he didn’t hear the phone.	Listening to loud music he didn’t hear the phone
2	As Peter was standing next to Anne he heard everything she said.	Standing next to Anne Peter heard everything she said.
3	As she was given only a small portion of food, Sarah was hungry for the rest of the evening.	Given only a small portion of food, Sarah was hungry for the rest of the evening.
4	As Jack is contacted by many people every day, he doesn’t have time to answer all requests [Anfragen]	Contacted by many people every day, Jack doesn’t have time to answer all requests.

The participle construction on the right replaces [ersetzen] the adverbial clause construction on the left (this is similar [ähnlich] to the participle construction instead or a relative clause). The meaning of both constructions is the same. Participle constructions are especially common in written English. They sound more formal [förmlich] than relative clauses.
The present participle has an active meaning (walking) and the past participle has a passive meaning (mentioned).

In German, you usually translate a participle construction with an adverbial clause because the German language doesn’t have such a construction (e.g. „Als… “, „Weil …“, „Da …“)

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Participle constructions to express [ausdrücken] reason and time

Participle construction to express a reason

Participle construction to express time