Before going to bed, he brushed his teeth

[Indigo]

Which participle form (present or perfect) fits best in the following sentences?

a) Before going to bed, he brushed his teeth.
b) Before having gone to bed, he brushed his teeth.
c) Brushing his teeth, he went to bed.
d) Having brushed his teeth, he went to bed.

 

[emsr2d2]

a and d work. b is ungrammatical. c means that he is still brushing his teeth when he gets into bed.

 

[Indigo]

In my grammar explanations I read that we use present participle (ing-form) when we talk about two actions happening at the same time, like in sentence c). However, in sentence a) we use the same present participle but we mean that the action of brushing teeth took place before the other action (going to bed), not at the same time. Do we use present participle because of the word "before" at the beginning of sentence a)?

 

[Tarheel]

This might be slightly off-topic, but I would say:

I brushed my teeth, and then I went to bed.

Or:

I brushed my teeth before I went to bed.

Or:

I went to bed after I brushed my teeth.

 

[jutfrank]

Do we use present participle because of the word "before" at the beginning of sentence a)?

Yes, the word 'before' makes the logic very clear, as would the words 'after' and 'while'.

 

[Indigo]

How do I know which participle form to use with a certain preposition? Present participle tend to follow prepositions like: "before, on, while" but perfect participle can follow "after, in spite of". Can "before" ever be used with perfect participle (having + 3rd form)? If yes, could you give some examples, please?

 

[emsr2d2]

How do I know which participle form to use with a certain preposition? Present participles tend to follow prepositions like no colon here "before", "on" and "while" but perfect participles can follow "after" and "in spite of". Can "before" ever be used with perfect participles (having + 3rd form)? If yes so, could you give some examples, please?

Note my corrections above. Off the top of my head, I can't think of a natural example. Someone else might, though.