GeneD
Senior Member
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2017
- Member Type
- Student or Learner
- Native Language
- Russian
- Home Country
- Belarus
- Current Location
- Belarus
This being clearly understood, Harris gave in his adhesion; and our start was fixed for early Wednesday morning. (from "Three men on the bummel" by Jerome K. Jerome)
I understand, of course, the meaning of the sentence, but what confuses me (from the grammar view point) is this participal clause. Would I be mistaken saying that this clause could be changed into "Having understood this clearly..."? I've looked for some explanation and found the following: "[FONT=british_council]We can use participle clauses when the participle and the verb in the main clause have the same subject" ([/FONT]https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/quick-grammar/participle-clauses[FONT=british_council]). But is it true for the clause I'm asking about? The clause seems to be passive, but the meaning isn't.
Or wait... It's just come to mind that the clause possibly is passive. It obviously means "The thing we talked over being clearly understood". And at the same time it has its own subject.
Is it somewhat old-fashioned or is it used in modern-day English? And if used, how common is the use of such participle clauses? [/FONT]
I understand, of course, the meaning of the sentence, but what confuses me (from the grammar view point) is this participal clause. Would I be mistaken saying that this clause could be changed into "Having understood this clearly..."? I've looked for some explanation and found the following: "[FONT=british_council]We can use participle clauses when the participle and the verb in the main clause have the same subject" ([/FONT]https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/quick-grammar/participle-clauses[FONT=british_council]). But is it true for the clause I'm asking about? The clause seems to be passive, but the meaning isn't.
Or wait... It's just come to mind that the clause possibly is passive. It obviously means "The thing we talked over being clearly understood". And at the same time it has its own subject.
Is it somewhat old-fashioned or is it used in modern-day English? And if used, how common is the use of such participle clauses? [/FONT]
Last edited: