Having+ past participle

Hi, Izzat Hannah,

What difference do you see between the two sets of sentences? I don't see any, except for the tense of the main clause. Is that what troubles you?

Hi, Izzat Hannah,

@Izzat Hannah posted:

1. Having finished his homework, John went to bed.
2. Having been to London before, I knew my way around the city.
3. Having seen the movie already, I didn't want to watch it again.

In our school curriculum we are familiar with these sentences, but sentences like:

1. Having been a teacher for many years, I know how hard the job is.

2. Having seen the movie, she has decided it isn’t suitable for her children.

3. Having visited the island many times, they can get around it quite easily.

are not familiar to us. My question is that are these sentences grammatically, correct?

Thanks.

Yes, they are all grammatically correct. They all refer to the present perfect tense and indicate that there is a 'cause-and-effect' relationship.

1. Because I have been a teacher for many years, I know ...

@Gustavo, Co-Moderator posted:

Hi, Izzat Hannah,

What difference do you see between the two sets of sentences? I don't see any, except for the tense of the main clause. Is that what troubles you?

It does not trouble me. But, yes. We are familiar with past simple tense only with this form (Having + pp). I try to persuade my students there are other tenses but they don't agree. Because our books don't say that.

Thanks.

@ahmed_btm posted:

Hi, Izzat Hannah,

Yes, they are all grammatically correct. They all refer to the present perfect tense and indicate that there is a 'cause-and-effect' relationship.

1. Because I have been a teacher for many years, I know ...

I know that they are all grammatically correct. But I need confirmation.

@Izzat Hannah posted:

My question is that are these sentences grammatically, correct?

@Izzat Hannah posted:

I know that they are all grammatically correct.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

@Izzat Hannah posted:

I try to persuade my students there are other tenses but they don't agree. Because our books don't say that.

Your students should see and believe that you are the only reliable source of information. They come to learn, not to object.

@Izzat Hannah posted:

I need confirmation.

From Oxford Guide to English Grammar, by John Eastwood, page 172:

a A participle clause can express reason.
Crowds were waiting at the airport, hoping to see Madonna arrive.
(= ... because they were hoping to see her arrive.)
Not feeling very well, James decided to lie down.
Having lost my passport, I have to apply for a new one.

Form Cambridge Grammar of English:

The perfect aspect may occur with non-tensed verbs in the to-infinitive and the
-ing form:
To have read my emails, she’d have needed to know the password.
Having bought it, we ought to use it.

To add to Ahmed's fine examples, here you can find some others and, on top of that, an explanation as to the relationship between the perfect participle (having + past participle) and the verb in the main clause:

Perfect participle clauses

Perfect participle clauses show that the action they describe was finished before the action in the main clause. Perfect participles can be structured to make an active or passive meaning.

Having got dressed, he slowly went downstairs.
Having finished their training, they will be fully qualified doctors.
Having been made redundant, she started looking for a new job.

As you can read above, the perfect participle clause expresses an action or a state previous to the action or state in the main clause. In the second example, the main clause is in the future, the idea being that, once they have finished their training, the trainees will become qualified doctors (completing their training is a prior condition to their becoming qualified doctors).

And last but not least, in Table 18-4 Expressing Cause and Effect in Modifying Adverbial Clauses under "Reduction of Adverb Clauses to Modifying Adverbial Phrases" on page 395 of Azar and Hagen's Understanding and Using English Grammar, we can find, among many other examples, this interesting pair of sentences in which the main clause appears in the present or in the past tense depending on how the time frame expressed by the perfect participle is understood:

(e) Having seen that movie before, I don't want to go again.
(f) Having seen that movie before, I didn't want to go again.

The authors explain:

Having + past participle gives the meaning not only of "because" but also of "before."

As you can see, there are no restrictions as to the tense of the verb in the main clause. In fact, (e) can be paraphrased as follows: As I have seen that movie before, I don't want to go again, while (f) can be paraphrased as follows: As I had seen that movie before, I didn't want to go again.

The grammar references we have cited should hopefully satisfy your students.

Thank You, both. Mr. G., You rock.