| Forms | -ing is active, having + past participle is earlier, a past participle is passive | Walking home, I met Tom. / Having finished lunch, we left. / Written in 1990, the book is old. |
| Meanings | time, reason, result or an accompanying action | Feeling tired, she went to bed. / He dropped the plate, breaking it. |
| After a conjunction | while, when, before, after, since, on and by take -ing | Before signing, read the contract. |
| C1With a noun | with and without give the noun a participle or complement of its own | She sat with her arms crossed. / With the lights off, the room felt cold. |
| C1Own subject | being joins a subject of its own to the clause | It being Sunday, the shops were closed. |
| C1Condition and concession | a past participle, provided, supposing or though opens it | Used properly, the product is safe. / Though warned, he went anyway. |
| C1Result | thereby + V-ing names the result of the whole main clause | Prices rose, thereby forcing shops to close. |
| C2Absolute phrases | a noun and a participle or adjective, with no verb, set the scene | Weather permitting, we will eat outside. / Her work finished, she left. |
| C2Comment clauses | fixed phrases comment on the sentence and keep their wording | Strictly speaking, a tomato is a fruit. |
| C2After a noun | a participle after a noun, or a chain of them, adds detail | The problem posed by rising costs, compounded by falling demand, forced the firm to close. |
| Subject | the clause shares the subject of the main clause | Opening the box, Maria found a note. |
| Trap | a different doer needs a full clause or a new main subject | Walking down the road, he was hit by a car. |