Absolute Participle Clauses
Use an absolute participle clause to show that one action was completely finished before the main action happened.
Form it by placing a past participle at the beginning of the clause, immediately followed by the noun it affects. It translates roughly to "Once [X] was done..." or "With [X] completed...".
| Once the population was warned, we had to evacuate the city at dawn. | Avisada a população, tivemos de evacuar a cidade de madrugada. |
Agreement in Gender and Number
The past participle in these clauses acts like an adjective, so it must agree in gender and number with the noun it modifies.
| Once the siren was heard, the firefighters could rescue the victims. | Ouvida a sirene, os bombeiros puderam socorrer as vítimas. |
| After the injured were rescued, the helicopter took off for the hospital. | Resgatados os feridos, o helicóptero descolou para o hospital. |
| Once the stretchers arrived, they started to rescue the inhabitants. | Chegadas as macas, começaram a socorrer os habitantes. |
Using Intransitive Verbs
While often used for passive actions ("Once the victims were rescued"), you can also use this structure with intransitive verbs that do not take a direct object, like desabar (to collapse) or passar (to pass).
| After the roof collapsed, they searched for the injured in the rubble. | Desabado o teto, eles procuraram os feridos nos escombros. |
| After the flood passed, we had to clean the rubble from the street. | Passada a inundação, tivemos de limpar os escombros da rua. |
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