15.6.1
Construction aprés avoir + participe
passé and ayant / étant + participe
passé
Both, the participe
passé as well as participe
présent can be used in a temporal clause, a
conditional clause
and in a relative clause.
The difference is that the participe
présent presents an action that happens at the same time as the main action, while the participe passé presents an action that happens before
the main action.
Examples
J' ai vu quelqu'
un se dirigeant
vers la porte.
I saw somebody approaching the door.
Arrivé
chez moi, j' ai lu ta lettre.
Having arrived at home I read your letter.
Now, we have also seen the forms with ayant / étant + participe
passé, which actually also represent something happening before the main action.
Examples
a) Ayant
épargné assez d'
argent, il pouvait s' acheter une nouvelle
voiture.
Having saved enough money, he could buy a new car.
b) Après avoir
épargné assez d'
argent, il pouvait s' acheter une nouvelle
voiture.
After having saved enough money, he could buy a new car.
What now? Both express something happening before the main action (buying a car), where is here the difference? Option a) expresses the causal relation, option b) the temporal relation. Let's have another example to make things a bit more clear.
Examples
aa) Ne l' ayant
pas fait,
il avait la conscience tranquille.
Not having done it, he had a good conscience. (= Because he did not do it, he had a ...)
bb) Après
ne pas l' avoir
fait, il avait la conscience
tranquille.
After not having done it, he had a good conscience.
Here, it becomes more clear that aa) describes the cause for the good conscience, bb) describes only the sequence of events. Here are some more examples to show the differences.
Examples
Travaillant dur, il gagne beaucoup d' argent.
Working hard he earned a lot of money.
Ayant travaillé dur, il gagne beaucoup d' argent maintenant.
Working hard he earned a lot of money. (Because of his hard working he earned ...)
Lisant le livre, il pouvait répondre à toutes les questions.
Reading the book he could answer all the questions.
Ayant lu le livre, il pouvait répondre à toutes les questions.
Reading the book he could answer all the questions. (Because of reading the book ...)
La nuit tombant vite en montagne, ils se sont dépêchés d' arriver.
The night falling fast in the mountains they hurried to arrive. (Because of the night falling fast ...)
La nuit étant tombée, ils se sont dépêchés d' arriver.
The night having already fallen in the mountains they hurried to arrive.
