1. -ing clauses: cause and effect
UNIT 9
-ing clauses: cause and effect

2. It contains two clauses: A main clause:
Study this sentence:
Computers can communicate with synthesisers, using MIDI.
It contains two clauses: A main clause:
Computers can communicate with synthesisers
and an –ing clause:
using MIDI

3. We can use –ing clauses to:
Explain how something happens
DVD drives read DVD disks (by) using blue laser light.
You can copy music files from a CD to your hard disk (by) using a ripper.
Using a ripper, you can copy music files from a CD to your hard disk.

4. We can also use –ing clauses to:
Show the effect of something
A WAV file may sample a song 44,000 times a second (cause), creating a huge mass of information (effect).
Many computer users download music albums for free (cause), causing copyright problems (effect).
Note: We don’t use ‘by’ before the –ing clause when we describe the effect.

5. To sum up about –ing clauses
-ing clauses can show how something happens:
You can copy music files in your hard disk (how?)…
…(by) using a ripper program.
-ing clauses can also show the result of something:
Sounds we don’t hear are removed from mp3 files (and what’s the result?)…
…producing much smaller files.