Polio, although it is eradicated in the United States, it continues el

Which of the following sentences are correct?

1. Although eradicated in the United States, polio continues elsewhere and could be brought into the country by visitors.

2. Although Polio is eradicated in the United States, it continues elsewhere and could be brought into the country by visitors.

A lot of people will say that sentence 2 is correct since 'although' is a dependent clause or subordinating clause marker so it has to start a dependent clause i.e. it should have a subject and verb.

However both the sentences are correct. In fact, both of these sentences are essentially same.

Sentence 1) is a reduced form of sentence 2).

Reduction of adverb clauses.

An adverb clause/dependent clause/subordinate clause can be shortened/reduced to an adverb phrase. This is primarily done for concision. An adverb clause can be reduced to an adverbial phrase only when the adverb clause (subordinate clause) and the main clause have the same subject.

Following are the three rules to follow:

1. Adverb clauses may be reduced only if the subject of both the dependent clause(the adverb clause) and independent clause are the same.
2. If the main verb of the adverb clause is the 'be' verb,omit the subject and the 'be' verb.
3. If the main verb of the adverb clause is not the 'be' verb, then omit the subject and change the verb to gerund form.

In general, the adverb clauses of time, cause and contrast can be reduced. I will mainly discuss the reduction of the adverb clauses of opposition.

Adverb clauses of opposition.

Clause markers: Even though, though, although (also while and whereas)

'though', 'even though' or 'although' present a situation which is contrary to the main clause to express opposition.

Lets consider the sentence we discussed above:

Although Polio is eradicated in the United States, it(Polio) continues elsewhere and could be brought into the country by visitors.

Here since the subject Polio is common to both subordinate clause and the main clause and the subordinate clause is clause of opposition, we can reduce this clause. (Rule #1 Satisfied)

To reduce, apply rule#2 i.e. remove the subject(Polio) and the verb is(form of verb 'be')

Reduced/Shortened sentence:

Although eradicated in the United States, Polio continues elsewhere and could be brought into the country by visitors.

Lets take another sentence:

Although he got away with murder, he is now the most hated person in America.

Since the subject of the subordinate clause(Although he got away with murder) and the main clause(he is now the most hated person in America) is same, we can reduce this sentence.

To reduce, apply rule #3 i.e. remove the subject and change the verb 'got' to gerund form 'getting'

Although getting away with murder, he is now the most hated person in America.


Here is a Gmatprep question, which has the reduced form of the sentence that we discussed in this article.

Polio, although it is eradicated in the United States, it continues elsewhere and is able to be brought into the country by visitors.

(A) Polio, although it is eradicated in the United States, it continues elsewhere and is able to be
(B) Polio, although eradicated in the United States, it still continues elsewhere and can be
(C) Although still continuing elsewhere, polio has been eradicated in the United States and could be
(D) Although having been eradicated in the United States, polio still continues elsewhere and is capable of being
(E) Although eradicated in the United States, polio continues elsewhere and could be