# Jarrod Studies Grammar **URL:** https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/t/jarrod-studies-grammar/2139 **Category:** Other **Tags:** learning, grammar **Created:** [December 22, 2025, 11:37am UTC](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/t/jarrod-studies-grammar/2139 "2025-12-22T11:37:21Z") **Posts on this page:** 1 **Showing post:** 6
### Author: ![Jarrod](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/user_avatar/discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/jarrod/32/5459_2.png) [@Jarrod](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/u/Jarrod) #### Post date: [December 23, 2025, 12:01am UTC](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/t/jarrod-studies-grammar/2139/6 "2025-12-23T00:01:37Z")
# 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](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/t/elliot-shares-links-2022/464/213) which links to a Wikipedia article which says (my bold and underline): > The _-ing_ form of a verb has both [noun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noun) uses and [adjectival](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjective) **(or [adverbial](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adverb)) uses**. In either case it may function as a [non-finite verb](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-finite_verb) (for example, by taking [direct objects](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_object)), or as a pure noun or adjective. When it behaves as a non-finite verb, it is called a _[gerund](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerund)_ in the noun case, and **a _[present participle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Present_participle)_ in the** adjectival or **adverbial case.** [ET also links](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/t/elliot-shares-links-2022/464/214) to another Wikipedia article which says (my bold and underline): > The [present participle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Present_participle) is one of the uses of the _-ing_ form of a verb. This usage is [adjectival](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjective) **or [adverbial](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adverb)**. So participles can function as adverbs after all? I searched the web and found [this article](https://englishcomposition.org/essential-writing/the-participle/) which says: > A **participle** is a verb form, often ending in -_ **ing** _ or -_ **ed** _, that can function as an adjective or an [adverb](https://englishcomposition.org/essential-writing/adverbs/). > > … > > 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](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/308534/grammatical-function-of-shuffling-in-he-came-shuffling-out#:~:text=%22He%20came%20shuffling%20out%22%20is,I%20stood%20wondering%20) 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. --- _[View the full topic](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/t/jarrod-studies-grammar/2139)._