Resolving my confusion about participles as adverbs
I was confused by some participles so I wrote about it. I added the headings (e.g., “Dead end #…”) afterward.
ET’s grammar article says:
A participle is an adjective based on a verb.
What about examples like:
The dog came running to greet us.
Dead end #1: Participles as adverbs
Is “running” a participle functioning as an adverb modifying “came”? But that contradicts the idea that participles are adjectives.
Dead end #2: Implied conjunctions
Looking at other examples, e.g.:
She sat reading by the window.
It occurred to me that maybe there’s an implied conjunction? I.e.:
She sat [while] reading by the window.
Which could be reshuffled as “While reading, she sat by the window.” or “She sat by the window while reading.” In which case, “reading” might be shorthand for an adverbial clause or something? (Though, to my ear, they potentially have a subtly different meaning—i.e., her taking the action of sitting down (from a standing position) while reading.)
Other examples:
He stood [while?] waiting for the bus.
The child lay [while?] sleeping in the crib.
The cat crept [while?] silently stalking its prey.
He died [while?] fighting for his beliefs.
Dead end #3: Participles as subject-modifying adjectives
A third option occurred to me: the participles are adjectives that are modifying the subject. E.g., reshuffling/rewriting the examples:
The running dog came to greet us.
The reading lady sat by the window.
The waiting man stood for the bus.
The sleeping child lay in the crib.
The stalking-its-prey cat crept silently. [”silently” seems to be squinting modifier]
The fighting man died for his beliefs. [This obviously alters the meaning, so maybe there is an implied conjunction “while” in this case? I.e., “The man died [while] fighting for his beliefs.” Although, to my ear, even that has a subtly different meaning (like maybe he died off the battlefield for some other reason during the same period/deployment) to “The man died in the act of fighting for his beliefs.” Although even that doesn’t quite capture it, because maybe he had a heart attack while in the act of fighting rather than because he took an enemy bullet. Ugh
.]
I’m still not totally satisfied. E.g., I feel like “The running dog”, “The reading lady”, etc., don’t have exactly the same meaning as the original sentences. Also, I still need to figure out what’s going on with the “fighting for his beliefs” example.
Back to option #1: Participles as adverbs
I feel like treating them as adverbs makes the most sense. E.g., replacing the participles with actual adverbs works: “The dog came quickly to greet us”, “She sat silently by the window”, “He died valiantly for his beliefs“, etc.
I searched the forum and found this post by ET which links to a Wikipedia article which says (my bold and underline):
The -ing form of a verb has both noun uses and adjectival (or adverbial) uses. In either case it may function as a non-finite verb (for example, by taking direct objects), or as a pure noun or adjective. When it behaves as a non-finite verb, it is called a gerund in the noun case, and a present participle in the adjectival or adverbial case.
ET also links to another Wikipedia article which says (my bold and underline):
The present participle is one of the uses of the -ing form of a verb. This usage is adjectival or adverbial.
So participles can function as adverbs after all?
I searched the web and found this article which says:
A participle is a verb form, often ending in -ing or -ed, that can function as an adjective or an adverb.
[…]
Here are some examples of how present participles can be used as … adverbs:
[…]
Present Participle as Adverb
Patty ran out the door crying.
We sure hit the ground running.
More interestingly, I found this on Stack Exchange responding to someone asking about the example: “He came shuffling out”. Apparently someone wrote a whole master’s thesis on this exact issue!! (Despite being written relatively recently—in 2011—their thesis says “this construction [is] understudied”.)
Anyway, maybe I’ll study this issue later but for now I’m content to just accept that it’s a participle that functions as an adverb.