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Lesson 62C1

Participle Clauses

कृदंत उपवाक्य

Advanced English compresses two related actions into one sentence by turning the second verb into a participle — a tightly packed construction that closely echoes Hindi's own ते हुए (present participle, 'while doing') and करके (absolutive, 'having done') constructions.

Grammar Comparison

व्याकरण तुलना

A participle replaces a full clause to link two related actions

English

Walking down the street, I saw an old friend. (walking replaces 'As I was walking' — compressing two clauses into one)

Hindi

सड़क पर चलते हुए, मैंने एक पुराने दोस्त को देखा। (चलते हुए, हिंदी का वर्तमानकालिक कृदंत, ठीक अंग्रेज़ी के -ing कृदंत जैसा काम करता है)

Hindi already has two close cousins of this construction. Its present participle ते हुए/ती हुई attaches to a verb to mean 'while doing X' — सड़क पर चलते हुए, 'while walking down the street' — functioning almost exactly like English's -ing participle clause. For a completed action before another one, Hindi instead reaches for the absolutive करके ('having done'): रिपोर्ट ख़त्म करके, वह घर चली गई, 'having finished the report, she went home' — which maps directly onto English's perfect participle Having finished the report... English drops the subject and conjugated verb of a secondary clause, replacing them with an -ing participle for simultaneous actions or a past/perfect participle (Having been warned, she was careful) for prior completed ones — the same two-way split Hindi makes between ते हुए and करके. This is a formal, literary construction in English, favored in writing over speech, whereas करके and ते हुए constructions are common in both Hindi speech and writing alike.

Vocabulary

शब्दावली

EnglishPronunciationHindi
Walking down the street, I saw an old friend.WAWK-ing down thuh street eye saw an ohld frendसड़क पर चलते हुए, मैंने एक पुराने दोस्त को देखा।saṛak par calte hue, maiñne ek purāne dost ko dekhā.
Having finished the report, she went home.HAV-ing FIN-isht thuh ri-PORT shee went hohmरिपोर्ट ख़त्म करके, वह घर चली गई।riporṭ khatm karke, vah ghar calī gaī.
Not knowing what to do, he called his mother.not NOH-ing wut too doo hee kawld hiz MUTH-erक्या करना है यह न जानते हुए, उसने अपनी माँ को फ़ोन किया।kyā karnā hai yah na jānte hue, usne apnī māñ ko fon kiyā.