8.123 present participle: reasons

If you want to explain why someone does something or why something happens, you say what happens in the main clause and give the reason in a clause containing a present participle.

• At one point I made up my mind to go and talk to Uncle Sam. Then I changed my mind, realising that he could do nothing to help.
• The baby would probably not live to grow up, being a scrawny little thing, unlikely to survive the normal ailments of childhood.

8.124

You can also use a present participle directly after a verb in a sentence such as 'I stood shivering at the roadside'. This use is explained in paragraphs 3.190 to 3.203.