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Paticiple Clauses

There is not very much difference in meaning between these two pairs of sentences. Sometimes we can use an -ing or past participleclause with similar meanings, as here, although use of the past participle form emphasises that the first action has been completed before the second action begins. Thus, we could paraphrase these two sentences as follows:

Having seen an accident ahead, I stopped my car. I noticed that there had been an accident ahead and stopped my car.

Seeing an accident ahead, I stopped my car. When I saw the accident ahead, I stopped my car.

In general, we tend not to use participle clauses so much in speech. They are too formal. In speech we would probably say:

I saw an accident ahead, so I stopped my car.

However, in written English participial clauses can be very useful. As you can see from the examples above, when the subject in the participle clause is the same as the participle in the main clause, they enable us to say the same thing, but with fewer words.