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I don't understand the function of participles in these sentences below.

1- She fled with her children, ending up in a shelter. (Does the action of the main clause( "fleeing") happen at the same the as the action of participle clause? ( "ending up") )

2- Cooper enjoyed dinner at Audrey's house, agreeing to a large slice of cherry pie even though he was full to the point of bursting. (Does the action of the main clause( "enjoying") happen at the same the as the action of participle clause? ( "agreeing"))

3- Three man tried to mug me but I fought them off, injuring two of them. (Again does the action of main clause( "fighting off" ) happen at the same time as the action of participle clause? ("injuring" ))

4- Anthropologists found parasite eggs in ancient poop samples, providing a glimpse of human health as hunter gatherers transitioned to settlements. (Scientific American) (Is this a reduced relative clause which qualifies the whole independent clause? As: Anthropologists found parasite eggs in ancient poop samples, which provides a glimpse of human health as hunter gatherers transitioned to settlements. Christopher Intagliata reports ("which provides..." refers to the whole independent clause" " Anthropologists found parasite eggs in ancient poop samples" )

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The sentences have adverbial phrases with present participles.

https://learningenglishgrammar.wordpress.com/adverbial-phrases-with-present-participles/

Such a phrase after the main clause can describe an additional action (often performed by the subject of the main clause, like in sentence 3), but not necessarily a simultaneous one. In sentence 1 the additional action finishes the main one: she fled and finally, as a result (they all) ended up in a shelter. Such a phrase can also describe a result of the main action as another action or an event caused by the main one. In sentence 2 Cooper really enjoyed dinner; for that reason, he even agreed to eat more than he was able to (so it seemed). As for sentence 4, both explanations look possible (the whole event of finding provided that glimpse or the anthropologists provided it as a result of their discovery).

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  • Thanks. Can't we use past participle to indicate result in the participle clause? You said as if present participle was the only way to indicate the result What I am trying to say that is there any example where "past participle" is used to indicate cause and result relation between the main clause and participle clause? She was fled with her children, being ended up in a shelter (As a result, she was ended up in a shelter by someone). or She was fled with her children, ended up in a shelter.
    – Talha Özden
    Commented Jun 14, 2019 at 15:54
  • + "It is about saving lives, starting with mine." (A line from a tv series) (Context: He talks about time travel to save lives including his life.) In this sentence, what is the function of "starting" ? Does it indicate result? or just qualify the subject of the main clause? "it" . Or does it indicate simultaneous actions? (It is about saving lives and it starts with mine. )
    – Talha Özden
    Commented Jun 15, 2019 at 12:00

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