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He returned and closed the front door, making sure it was unlocked.

1.a) He returned, closed the front door and made sure it was unlocked.

2) We played a fun game, trying to remember the day’s coaching tips.

2.a) We played a fun game and tried to remember the day's coaching tips. [as we did so].

3) The bullet missed him, passing over his head.

3.a) The bullet missed him and passed over this head.

How do these 'ing' verbs coordinate with the rest of the sentence and not require the conjunction with a different verb as in the examples?

The painting was finished, stunning than ever.

(stunning is an adjective, and so it must modify a noun or be predicated of it; it does not coordinate with the main clause.)

Aren't all the examples above modifying nouns? (him/passing game/trying/door/making)

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

1, 1a, 2, 2a, 3, and 3a are all okay.

The sentence, "The painting was finished, stunning than ever.", is ungrammatical. It should apparently be:

The painting was finished, and it was stunning, like all the artist's work.

CalifJim · Answer

panda blue 483
He returned and closed the front door, making sure it was unlocked.
1.a) He returned, closed the front door and made sure it was unlocked.
2) We played a fun game, trying to remember the day’s coaching tips.
2.a) We played a fun game and tried to remember the day's coaching tips. [as we did so].
3) The bullet missed him, passing over his head.
3.a) The bullet missed him and passed over his head.

How do these 'ing' verbs coordinate with the rest of the sentence and not require the conjunction with a different verb as in the examples?
...
Aren't all the examples above modifying nouns? (him/passing game/trying/door/making)

No, the constructions I underlined above are participle clauses. Participle clauses are non-finite clauses separate from the main (finite) clauses. They don't actually modify anything, though typically (as here) the subject of such a clause is implicitly the same as the subject of the main clause. These non-finite clauses just provide extra information about the situation expressed by the main clause, usually construed as a secondary predication for the subject of the sentence.

The relationship between the extra material (the participle clause) and the main clause is not always exactly "and". In sentence 1 it is like "at the same time (making sure ...)". In sentence 2 it is very much like in sentence 1 (while at the same time trying to remember ...). In sentence 3 it is like "by" or "because": It missed by passing over his head or It missed because it passed over his head.

Participle clauses are not connected to main clauses by conjunctions. That's just how English works.

CJ

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