before | after + VERBing – English Grammar Profiler

The non-finite subordinate clause is a subordinate clause that does not have a subject and verb relationship like a typical main clause. Instead, it uses verb forms such as the “-ing” form. The clause is introduced by the words “before” or “after” to indicate a specific point in time.

Here’s an example to illustrate this:

“Before going to bed, she always brushes her teeth.“

In this example, “Before going to bed” is the non-finite subordinate clause. It doesn’t have a subject and verb structure but uses the “-ing” form of the verb “go.” The main clause is “she always brushes her teeth.” The non-finite subordinate clause with “before” establishes the time relationship, indicating that she brushes her teeth before going to bed.

Similarly, the construction can be used with “after” to indicate a time relationship after the main clause:

“After finishing his homework, he went out to play.”

Here, “After finishing his homework” is the non-finite subordinate clause. It uses the “-ing” form of the verb “finish.” The main clause is “he went out to play.” The non-finite subordinate clause with “after” shows the time relationship, indicating that he went out to play after finishing his homework.

In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 61 in the category of CLAUSES is defined as:

non-finite subordinate clause with ‘before’ and ‘after’ + ‘-ing’, before or after a main clause, to refer to time.

For example:

After studying English, I go to my apartment.

PELIC STUDENT: Arabic, Male, Level 3

Corpus research for after/before + verb+ing

A search in the iWeb corpus for:

before|after _VVG

reveals the most common present particples.

1 AFTER READING 97478 2 BEFORE GOING 75587 3 BEFORE MAKING 70563

4 AFTER TAKING 63018

5 BEFORE MOVING 61309

Born in Dublin, Beckett studied English, French and Italian before moving to Paris,

where he spent most of his life writing theatre, poetry and prose.

6 BEFORE TAKING 58086 7 AFTER GETTING 56298 8 AFTER SEEING 53409 9 AFTER COMPLETING 52419 10 BEFORE STARTING 52351 11 BEFORE USING 49405 12 AFTER RECEIVING 49253 13 AFTER SPENDING 43812 14 AFTER USING 43337 15 BEFORE GETTING 42429 16 BEFORE JOINING 41595 17 BEFORE HEADING 40958 18 AFTER MAKING 36905 19 AFTER LEAVING 35843 20 BEFORE LEAVING 35706 21 AFTER GRADUATING 34703 22 BEFORE RETURNING 33477 23 AFTER WATCHING 31484

24 BEFORE APPLYING 30087

First of all, before applying for a job, creating a clear resume is an essential and basic step.

PELIC STUDENT: Chinese, Female, Level 5 writing class

25 AFTER GOING 29517 26 AFTER WINNING 29421 27 AFTER LOSING 28437 28 AFTER WORKING 28224 29 BEFORE ENTERING 27755 30 BEFORE ADDING 27100 31 AFTER HEARING 26517 32 BEFORE COMING 25380 33 BEFORE SERVING 24975 34 BEFORE DECIDING 24609 35 AFTER PLAYING 24382 36 BEFORE BECOMING 23540 37 AFTER TRYING 22512 38 AFTER FINISHING 21975

39 AFTER GIVING 21298

40 AFTER LOOKING

20573

I really wanted to read books after looking at this.

TLC STUDENT female Sri Lanka B1

41 BEFORE PUTTING 20320 42 AFTER EATING 20008 43 AFTER SERVING 19105 44 AFTER STARTING 18936 45 BEFORE TURNING 18592 46 BEFORE BEGINNING 18437 47 BEFORE BUYING 18209 48 AFTER BUYING 18096 49 BEFORE REACHING 17725 50 BEFORE PROCEEDING 17637 51 AFTER INSTALLING 17418 52 AFTER FINDING 17203 53 BEFORE SENDING 17126 54 AFTER RUNNING 16821 55 BEFORE TRYING 16819 56 AFTER MOVING 16787 57 AFTER MEETING 16151 58 AFTER COMING 15731 59 AFTER RETURNING 15644 60 AFTER LEARNING 15377 61 AFTER SUFFERING 14834 62 BEFORE GIVING 14650 63 BEFORE ATTEMPTING 14333 64 AFTER OPENING 13487 65 BEFORE CONTINUING 13341 66 AFTER APPLYING 12975 67 AFTER REMOVING 12930 68 AFTER REVIEWING 12840 69 AFTER ADDING 12445 70 AFTER ENTERING 12154 71 AFTER TALKING 12083 72 BEFORE INSTALLING 12040 73 AFTER BECOMING 12018 74 AFTER FALLING 11966 75 AFTER ARRIVING 11951 76 AFTER HITTING 11937 77 BEFORE RUNNING 11894 78 BEFORE SIGNING 11746 79 BEFORE SUBMITTING 11736 80 AFTER PASSING 11664 81 BEFORE PLACING 11664 82 BEFORE HITTING 11518 83 BEFORE SETTING 11451 84 AFTER PUTTING 11273 85 AFTER SIGNING 11226 86 AFTER CHECKING 10965 87 AFTER POSTING 10883 88 BEFORE PURCHASING 10727 89 AFTER MISSING 10585 90 AFTER CLICKING 10566 91 BEFORE COMMITTING 10432 92 BEFORE ARRIVING 10322 93 AFTER VISITING 10269 94 AFTER SETTING 10208 95 BEFORE OPENING 10104 96 AFTER ATTENDING 9908 97 AFTER REACHING 9845 98 AFTER FAILING 9663 99 AFTER SCORING 9214

100 AFTER LISTENING 9144

B1 Verbs from the above corpus with examples:

  1. Applying: “Before applying for the job, he updated his resume.”
  2. Attempting: “After attempting the difficult puzzle, she felt a sense of accomplishment.”
  3. Attending: “After attending the concert, they went out for dinner.”
  4. Continuing: “Before continuing his studies, he took a gap year to travel.”
  5. Installing: “After installing the software, they restarted their computers.”
  6. Reaching: “Before reaching the summit, they had to overcome many obstacles.”
  7. Removing: “After removing the stains, the shirt looked brand new.”
  8. Scoring: “Before scoring the winning goal, he practiced tirelessly.”
  9. Setting: “After setting the table, they sat down for dinner.”
  10. Signing: “Before signing the contract, he carefully read through the terms and conditions.”

In each example, the non-finite subordinate clauses with “before” or “after” + “-ing” verbs are used to express a time relationship relative to the main clause. They indicate that the action described by the “-ing” verb occurs before or after the action in the main clause.