副詞子句的減化 ~ 連接詞要省略嗎?

Reduction of adverb clauses:

1. conjunction "after" remains and becomes a preposition that takes a gerund phrase as its object

After leaving the basketball court, ...

2. conjunction "because" changes into a preposition phrase "because of" which takes a noun phrase or gerund phrase or absolute phrase as its object.

Because of feeling ill, ...

Note: you could sometimes omit the conjunctions without significant change of the meaning by implication.

2015-06-18 23:13:21 補充：
Better examples of (2).

Because of being ill, he did not go to school yesterday.
He did not go to school yesterday because of illness.
Because of Tom's being ill, his mother did not go to work yesterday..

2015-06-19 12:48:02 補充：
"because of" is a preposition.
"because" is a word
"of" is a word
word + word = phrase

Perhap I should not mislead you, my dear friend Godgrey, by saying it "preposition phrase". My mistake!

Prepositional phrase is a different thing by definition!!

2015-06-19 13:06:22 補充：
clarification:
2. conjunction "because" changes into a preposition "because of" ...

because of 是 preposition 才對
沒有 preposition phrase 這個 term

上文並非指 prepositional phrase

見諒!

2015-06-19 13:24:41 補充：
Credit to Godfrey for his research:

Macmillan 字典是列 "because of " 為 preposition phrase (not "prepositional phrase")

But I agree with Godfrey that we should just name it "preposition" in order not to confuse others especially beginners.

2015-06-19 21:49:57 補充：
The correct term I intended to use is:

A "phrasal preposition" (not to be confused with a prepositional phrase) is two or more words functioning as a preposition.

2015-06-19 22:15:34 補充：
The following are worth mentioning as they could also be confusing:

- verb phrases (e.g. is watching, has watched, will be watched, etc.)
- verbal phrases (i.e. participle, gerund and infinitive phrases)
- phrasal verbs (e.g. look after, look into, see off, etc.)

2015-06-19 23:08:33 補充：
I beg to differ.

Feeling ill, Raymond goes to the toilet.
means the same thing as
While feeling ill, Raymond goes to the toilet. (but not Because)

However, it may be logical (altough not always true) to imply the meaning of Because.

2015-06-20 09:04:25 補充：
You're right that "because of" can be omitted, but, in that case, the participle phrase (adjectival phrase) should use perfect participle to create a sequence (先後次序) in order to imply a meaning of "cause 先 and effect 後" (modifying adverbial phrase).

2015-06-20 09:05:23 補充：
如不用 Because of

Having faced the effects of a recession in the 1990s, the America's car industry was obliged to restructure.

2015-06-20 10:55:05 補充：
If verb-to-be is used in the adverbial clause, we can reduce it with "being" ...

Because she is a mother now, she has more responsibilities.
Being a mother now, she has more responsibilities.

2015-06-20 13:08:34 補充：
其實 Godfrey 博士是對的

(2) 因果副詞子句
連接詞: because, as, since 是要省略的
becasue of 也沒有必要

Because he was ill, he did not go to school yesterday.
減化: Being ill, he did not go to school yesterday.

2015-06-20 13:17:11 補充：
Conjunction "because" is omitted if the cause-effect relationship can be understood from the context.

After Sarah left the basketball court, she switched on her mobile phone to check her WhatsApp.
減化: After leaving the basketball court, Sarah switched on her mobile phone to check her WhatsApp.- OK
保留)


Raymond is going to the toilet because he is feeling ill.
減化: Because OF feeling ill, Raymond is going to the toilet.

Feeling ill, Raymond goes to the toilet.

2015-06-19 12:23:04 補充：
I beg to differ.

"because of " functions as a preposition ~ (not a prepositional phrase)
類似 "in spite of " (prep.)
"because" 單字, 無加 "of" 只能作 conjunction
Macmillan 字典是列 "because of " 為 prepositional phrase
但在牛津, 劍橋字典列為 preposition
我偏向牛津, 劍橋的釋義

2015-06-19 12:31:53 補充：
because of + noun/noun phrase 是 prepositional phrase
如果 because of 稱 prep. phrase,
because of illness 是 another prep. phrase?

Prepositional phrase = preposition plus its object (or complement)
Prepositional phrases function mainly as
1. adverbials
2. postmodifiers in noun phrases

2015-06-20 06:02:44 補充：
Julie:

不好意思, 我誤解了.
"preposition phrase" & "prepositional phrase"
I think the two terms are used synonymously.

"because of" - preposition phrase (Macmillan English Dict)
"because of" - prepositional phrase (Fowler's Modern English Usage)

2015-06-20 06:35:23 補充：
"because of" 在 grammar 書籍稱 complex preposition 或者 phrasal preposition
(two- or three-word combinations acting as a single unit.)

我不是讀文科, 英語犯錯無可避免, 很多時要查看字典, 書籍
其實 term 稱什麼不重要, 重要是網友明白

Thank you for your positive contribution to the English column.

2015-06-20 08:00:09 補充：
Feeling ill, Raymond goes to the toilet.

It is a bad example ,,, 去廁所,
而且用 present tense.
盡量跟發問者原意

You can use participial phrases to describe causes and results.
This can be more effective than writing using simple conjunctions such as "and" or "because".

2015-06-20 08:06:00 補充：
Example:

The America's car industry was obliged to restructure in the 1990s because it faced the effects of a recession.

Facing the effects of a recession in the 1990s, the America's car industry was obliged to restructure.

不用 Becaause of facing the effects ......

2015-06-22 06:48:44 補充：
Facing the effects of a recession in the 1990s, the America's car .....

Participial phrase can be used to explain something, or to say why somebody does something.
The -ing phrase usually comes at the beginning of the sentence.
Feeling tired, I went to bed early.
( = because I felt tired.)

2015-06-22 07:19:21 補充：
Perfect aspect indicates that the action of a verb is completed.
所以不用 Perfect paticiple, "Having faced the effects ..."
Facing the effects of recession 未完結

Having lost my passport, I have to apply for a new one.
Having passed my driving test, I was able to buy my first car.