Reduced clause

[macx1197]

Since I had never played Spades before, Joe took his time explaining the game to me.

Can I reduce it to "I having never played Spades before, Joe took his time explaining the game to me."

Thanks

[Mister Micawber]

Not and remain natural, no.
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Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's

[macx1197]

But I read a book saying the adverb clause can be reduced as long as the subject is there.

When the coffin had been interred, the minister said a few comforing words.

The coffin (having been) interred, the minister said a few comforing words.

Are the two sentences different?

[Mister Micawber]

I said it is not a natural thing to do. Neither is 'the coffin interred, the minister said...'. These are stylized paradigms set up for teaching grammar, not likely utterances.
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Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's

[macx1197]

I got it. Now I know how to say in a more "human-way".

Thanks

[Thredder]

I'd say that you can get away with it, but not always and it depends on the style you are after. As Mr M suggests, it's often not entirely natural.

You could say...
"Having never played Spades, I needed Joe to explain to me."

and sentences like,

"The kids asleep, the adults brought out the brandy."
"The dishes washed, he settled down to read his newspaper."

But your coffin example sounds a little off, possibly a strange context.

"The congregation seated, the minister said a few comforting words."

But this would be probably a literary style, sounding slightly old-fashioned even, maybe.

[Alan]

Hi,

These constructions are confusing simply because the subject following the past/present participle doesn't relate back naturally to what has been described in the 'reduced' participle itself.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple

[macx1197]

Hi Alan,

I fet confused. Can I say they are grammatically correct, but not a nature way to say that?

M