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clauses they retain their predicate part, which takes a proper tense-aspect form.
She sat on the porch, Mary playing with her doll ————> She sat on the porch, and (while) Mary was
playing with her doll.
The clauses resulting from such transformations usually have a simple verbal predicate. If the second part
includes a form of the verb to be, the predicate of the clause is, of course, a compound nominal one:
It being late, he went home ——> As it was late, he went home.
II. Constructions with non-verbals with an adjective, a stative, an
adverb or a noun (with a preposition) as their second part. When
transformed into clauses, a proper form of the link verb to be must be introduced, as these constructions lack a
verbal component of their own.
He marched out of the room, his head high up ——> He marched out of the room, and his head was high
up.
Thus clauses resulting from the transformation of constructions of this type always have a compound
nominal predicate.
§ 131. Absolute constructions may have two forms: non-prepositional and prepositional. The latter is
introduced by the preposition with (in the case of the infinitive construction it may be without).
Dinner over, everybody rose.
He was slowly coming to us, with his hands up.
Non-prepositional absolute constructions
§ 132. Non-prepositional absolute constructions are: the absolute nominative with participle I construction,
the absolute nominative with participle II construction, the absolute nominative with the infinitive construction,
the absolute nominative with the adjective construction, the absolute nominative with the adverb construction,
the absolute nominative with a prepositional noun construction.
The absolute nominative with participle I construction is the most frequently used. It consists of a noun
in the common case or a personal pronoun in the objective case and participle I. Within it all forms of participle
I are possible.
It being late, he bolted the windows.
Everything remained as she left it, the fire still burning.
As can be seen from the above examples, the position of the construction varies: it may either open the
sentence or close it.
The absolute nominative with participle I construction is generally used as an adverbial of reason or of
attendant circumstances, although sometimes it is an adverbial of time. Occasionally, especially with the verbs
to permit or to fail, it is an adverbial of condition.
The construction should be translated into Russian by means of different corresponding adverbial clauses:
1. Of reason.
The weather being unusually mild at that time for the season of the year, there was no sleighing ——>As
the weather was...
(Поскольку (так как) погода была...)
2. Of attendant circumstances. In this case the construction usually comes at the end of the sentence.