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  • In the first part of this lesson,

  • we looked at adverb clauses of time,

  • and I showed you how to reduce them.

  • How to shorten the clauses to phrases.

  • We can also reduce adverb clauses of reason.

  • These clauses begin with words like because, as, since.

  • They answer the question why.

  • Again, we mostly use a present participle

  • the -ing form of a verb

  • to form these phrases.

  • That's because most of the time, we use active verbs

  • Here's an example. Because the mother heard strange sounds, she grew worried.

  • "Heard" is an active verb.

  • The mother did something.

  • She heard strange sounds.

  • "Because the mother heard strange sounds"

  • can be reduced.

  • Hearing strange sounds, the mother grew worried.

  • The steps should be familiar.

  • We don't need these subordinating conjunctions in the phrases.

  • They're understood.

  • Our new sentence:

  • Note how we use negative words

  • when we shorten adverb clauses to phrases.

  • It's quite simple.

  • Here's an example from the story.

  • Focus on the phrase.

  • Do you see the word order?

  • We put the negative word before the present participle.

  • It's that simple.

  • Now, can you understand what the full adverb clause would be?

  • If we wanted to change that phrase back to a full adverb clause of reason,

  • We need a subordinating conjunction.

  • - A word that expresses a reason.

  • Let's use BECAUSE.

  • Subject: she.

  • And a verb.

  • In this case, complete with a helping verb in the past tense.

  • Didn't feel.

  • Is that clear?

  • Up to now, I've only mentioned use of the present participle.

  • When we change an adverb clause to a phrase,

  • we sometimes need to use a past participle.

  • The -ed form of a regular verb.

  • It's that third form:

  • Do - did - done.

  • The third form.

  • And we'll do this for two reasons.

  • We may need to show an earlier time.

  • Or we may need to express a passive meaning.

  • Passive verbs emphasize that the subject is receiving an action.

  • Let me give you some examples.

  • Here's a line from the story.

  • This phrase actually expresses both a reason

  • and an earlier event.

  • The full adverb clause would be:

  • So we're changing an adverb clause with a perfect form.

  • We need to use HAVING

  • plus a past participle.

  • This form explains a sequence of events.

  • So when your adverb clause has a perfect verb form,

  • present or past,

  • use HAVING + a past participle.

  • This will show that you're referring to an earlier event.

  • Now, if I only wanted to emphasize

  • the order of events and not a reason,

  • I could just use a time word

  • and a present participle

  • and say something like this:

  • Compare those two sentences.

  • In the end, they're not that different.

  • We also need to use a past participle

  • when we have a passive verb in the adverb clause.

  • Passive means that someone or something is receiving an action.

  • Here's an example from the story.

  • What would the full adverb clause be?

  • It's an adverb clause of time.

  • "Was reassured" is a passive verb.

  • It's a form of BE plus a past participle.

  • Changing that to a phrase,

  • we keep both parts.

  • The form of BE takes the -ing form.

  • The present participle.

  • The main verb remains a past participle.

  • Now here's where it gets a little tricky.

  • We have variations.

  • This sentence could also be written as:

  • Why did she decide to investigate?

  • Some might choose to write:

  • Personally, I think this is a little too much.

  • The time word "after"

  • already establishes the order of events.

  • So the helping verb HAVE is really unnecessary.

  • Concise is usually best.

  • So consider this last variation.

  • All the sentences basically say the same thing.

  • But this last one is nice

  • because it's so concise.

  • We can remove all helping verbs

  • and use only the past participle,

  • understanding that it carries a passive meaning.

  • Something affected the mother.

  • She was reassured.

  • So now you know why you might need the help of a past participle.

  • But most of the time when you're changing an adverb clause to a phrase,

  • you'll be working with present participles.

  • You'll be changing clauses with active verbs.

In the first part of this lesson,

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