Reduced relative clauses with past participles

Definition

A past-participle reduced relative clause shortens a passive relative clause by omitting the relative pronoun and a form of be. The past-participle phrase modifies a noun that receives or has received the action.

Examples

• The documents signed yesterday are on the desk.

  This reduces the documents that were signed yesterday.

• The houses damaged by the storm need repairs.

  The houses received the damage.

• The candidate selected for the role starts Monday.

  The participle phrase identifies which candidate starts Monday.

Full vs. reduced passive relative clause

The reduced form retains the past participle and passive meaning while making the noun phrase more concise.

The participle can also describe a resulting state

Some participle phrases are interpreted as passive events, while others describe a state or established characteristic. Context determines whether the action, result, or state is most prominent.

• The road closed by the police reopened at noon.

  The by phrase clearly supports a passive-event interpretation.

• The closed road caused long delays.

  Here closed functions more like an adjective describing the road's state.

Common mistakes