Negative participle clauses

Negative participle clauses are participle clauses formed by adding not before the participle (not + –ing, not + past participle, or not having + past participle). They are used to show that something was not the case (whether this is a missing fact, a negative situation, or a negative intention), and this negative situation is then linked to the action in the main clause, most commonly to express a reason (because) and sometimes a contrast (although).

This guide and a number of negative participle clause activities are available to download as PDF documents.

Negative present participle clauses

Negative present participle clauses usually describe a negative situation or state that exists at the same time as the main action. This often explains why something happened or gives background information. Here are some examples:

• Not hearing her alarm go off, Sarah overslept.
• Not wanting to appear rude, he agreed to go to the party.
• He walked into the room, not making eye contact with anyone.
• Not knowing the culture, Paul offended the people in the restaurant.
• Not looking where he was going, Carl walked into the lamppost.
• She just stood there, not saying a word.

Negative past participle clauses

Negative past participle clauses often show a missing action or missing information that should have happened but did not. Here are some examples:

• Not given any chance of winning, they played brilliantly.
• Not warned about the danger, he fell down the hole.
• Not properly secured, the load may fall.
• Not notified of the extension, he missed the deadline.
• Not informed of the change of dates, I booked the train for the wrong day.
• Not trained for the role, she performed brilliantly.

Negative perfect participle clauses

Negative perfect participle clauses show something that did not happen or failed to happen before the situation in the main clause. Here are some examples:

• Not having studied the map, they got lost.
• Not having saved enough money, she cancelled the trip.
• Not having trained for months, he still finished the marathon.
• He made several mistakes, not having read the instructions.
• Not having been warned, she handled the situation calmly.
• Not having paid the fee, applicants will not be admitted.

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