General English Level 4 Version 2.1 © 2004 acl Pty Ltd GELEV4 Unit 01 Topic 02.doc The newspaper article says: Once a month we collect all our small coins before sending them to the bank to be counted. This means the same as: Once a month we collect all our small coins before we send them to the bank…. First they collect the coins, then they send them to the bank. After seeing the thief …., After leaving the café…., and before sending them ….. are called non-finite clauses, because they do not have a complete or finite verb. Newspaper reports often use these types of clauses to show what happened first, second, third and so on. 1. We can only use these clauses when there is no need for a new subject - when the clause is about the same subject as the main clause, for example: We were in the café. + We saw this little man. We is the subject in both clauses so we can say: After leaving the café we saw this little man carrying four bags. 2. This kind of clause can be at the beginning or the end of the sentence, for example: The women went shopping after having lunch. Look After Before closing opening the door the window the gate the book I you he she we they went to bed. had lunch. drank some water. answered the phone. Information We make similar clauses with while and since, for example: He ate his dinner while watching television. Since leaving my job, I haven't had much money. 18