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TOEIC Link Part 5: Participle Clauses and Reduced Relative Clauses

Part 5 routinely tests present (-ing) versus past (-ed) participles as clause-openers and as reduced relative clauses. The decision is never about meaning — it is about whether the noun acts or is acted upon. Learn the active-versus-passive test that resolves every participle question.

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TOEIC Link Part 5: Participle Clauses and Reduced Relative Clauses

A reliable band of TOEIC Link Part 5 questions puts a blank before or after a noun and offers you a present participle (-ing) and a past participle (-ed) among the choices. Selecting or selected? Damaging or damaged? The wrong answer is always grammatically possible and often reads smoothly, so translation will not save you. The deciding factor is a single relationship: does the noun do the action or receive it? This guide gives you that test and shows how participles compress longer relative clauses into the tight phrases Part 5 favors.

The core rule: active -ing versus passive -ed

A present participle (-ing) carries an active meaning — the noun performs the action:

the rising costs (the costs rise) a leading supplier (the supplier leads)

A past participle (-ed, or an irregular form) carries a passive meaning — the noun receives the action:

the revised schedule (the schedule was revised) a trusted partner (the partner is trusted)

Everything in this topic reduces to that one contrast. Before choosing, turn the participle into a full verb and ask whether the noun is the doer or the done-to.

Participles as reduced relative clauses

Most participle questions are relative clauses with the relative pronoun and verb collapsed out. Both directions reduce predictably:

  • Active — the employees who work remotely → the employees **working** remotely.
  • Passive — the documents that were signed yesterday → the documents **signed** yesterday.

The rule: drop the relative pronoun (who/which/that); if the remaining verb is active, use the -ing form; if it is passive, use the -ed form. This is why recognizing the underlying relative clause makes the choice automatic — and it connects directly to relative pronouns and clauses, the unreduced version of the same structure.

the candidate ___ for the position (the candidate is selected → past participle) → selected the manager ___ the project (the manager oversees → active) → overseeing

Participles opening a sentence

The other common pattern places the participle at the front, modifying the subject that follows. The participle's subject must be the main clause subject — this is the classic dangling-modifier trap.

Founded in 1998, the company now operates in twelve countries. (The company was founded — passive, so -ed.)

Reviewing the contract, the lawyer noticed an error. (The lawyer reviews — active, so -ing.)

Test by asking what the subject after the comma actually does. If the subject performs the opening action, use -ing; if it undergoes it, use -ed. A mismatch — Founded in 1998, the founder… — is the wrong answer even when it sounds plausible.

The two-step test

For any participle blank, run this:

  1. Identify the noun the participle modifies. For a reduced relative, it is the noun right before (or right after) the blank; for a front participle, it is the main-clause subject.
  2. Make the participle a full verb against that noun. Doer → -ing. Done-to → -ed.

That is the entire decision. You never need the sentence's meaning beyond this active/passive relationship.

Worked examples

The proposal ___ by the board last week has been published. (A) approving (B) approved (C) approves (D) approve — (B) approved: the proposal was approved (passive).

Employees ___ in the new system received a confirmation email. (A) enrolled (B) enrolling (C) enroll (D) to enroll — (A) enrolled: the employees were enrolled (passive).

The consultant ___ the merger advised against it. (A) handled (B) handling (C) to handle (D) handle — (B) handling: the consultant handles (active).

___ for its reliability, the brand commands a premium price. (A) Knowing (B) Known (C) Knew (D) To know — (B) Known: the brand is known (passive).

Common pitfalls

  • Defaulting to -ing because it "sounds active." Check the relationship, not the rhythm.
  • Dangling front participles — the opening participle must share its subject with the main clause.
  • Confusing reduced and finite forms — the manager who oversees keeps the verb finite; the manager overseeing drops it. A blank offering both oversees and overseeing is testing whether a finite verb is already present (if so, you need the participle).
  • -ed adjectives versus -ing adjectives of feeling — interested (the person feels it) versus interesting (the thing causes it) follow the same active/passive logic; see word choice versus word form.

Bottom line

Every participle question is one question in disguise: does the noun act, or is it acted upon? Acting → -ing. Acted upon → -ed. Rebuild the participle as a full verb against its noun, and the reduced relative and front-participle patterns both collapse into that single, reliable test.