Passive Voice Participial Phrases Starting with After, Before, or Despite
If the original sentence starts with “after,” “before,” or “despite” and is in passive voice, use being + the 3rd form of the verb. Get rid of the subject and any verb auxiliaries, and keep the preposition.
Note the difference between bare passive voice participial phrases and passive voice participial phrases starting with after/before:
Bare passive voice participial phrase:
- Don was attacked by wolves as a child. He still can’t stand the sight of them.
- Attacked by wolves as a child, Don still can’t stand the sight of them.
Passive voice participial phrase starting with after/before:
- After he was attacked by wolves, Sam never went into the forest again.
- After being attacked by wolves, Sam never went into the forest again.
Example 1
Subordinate clause (past tense, passive voice) + Independent clause (past tense)
- After he was given a raise, he bought himself a new car.
Participial phrase (no time information, passive) + Independent clause (past tense)
- After being given a raise, he bought himself a new car.
Example 2
Subordinate clause (present tense for future, passive voice) + Independent clause (future)
- After he is given a raise, he will buy himself a new car.
Participial phrase (no time information, passive) + Independent clause (future)
- After being given a raise, he will buy himself a new car.
Example 3
Subordinate clause (past tense, passive voice) + Independent clause (past tense)
- Before she was awarded her diploma, she worked at survival jobs.
Participial phrase (no time information, passive) + Independent clause (past tense)
- Before being awarded her diploma, she worked at survival jobs.
Example 4: Compare present tense passive voice vs. past tense passive voice
Present tense passive voice
- Despite the fact that X is commonly used today, it's not ideal in this situation.
Participial phrase (no time information, passive) + Independent clause (present simple)
- Despite X being commonly used today, it's not ideal in this situation.
- Despite being commonly used today, X is not ideal in this situation.
VS.
Past tense passive voice
- Despite the fact that X was extensively used in the past, it's no longer used today.
Participial phrase (no time information, passive) + Independent clause (present simple, passive)
- Despite X being extensively used in the past, it's no longer used today.
- Despite being extensively used in the past, X is no longer used today.
Notice: The participial phrase is identical regardless of the time information in the independent clause.
Formula: After he was given a raise > After being given a raise
- Remove the subject.
- Change the verb to being + a passive participle, which is the 3rd form of the verb (give, gave, given).