Starting sentences with words ending in "ing"

Chrisla

practical experience, FTW
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 9, 2008
Messages
1,247
Reaction score
49
Location
Northern California
I have noticed in some critiques that writers are advised not to start many sentences with words that end in "ing."

What's wrong with "Thinking I could save some time, I took the short cut. . ." or "Golfing is his favorite pasttime."?

Can somebody clarify for me? I've never heard this rule before.
 

thothguard51

A Gentleman of a refined age...
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 16, 2009
Messages
9,316
Reaction score
1,064
Age
72
Location
Out side the beltway...
I think you are talking about starting a sentence off with a gerund, (a verb ending in ing or ed, acting in place of a noun.) Not to be confused with a participle...

Personally, I see nothing wrong, provided you structure the sentence so the gerund has a possessive subject, and done sparingly In your examples...

Thinking I could save some time, I took the short cut home. This is in first person so the "I" following thinking is the possessive subject that is doing the thinking. If I remember correctly

Now had you said... Thinking to save time, I took the short cut home. while it sounds the same, there is no possessive subject before the comma, so who was thinking?

And even that can be argued and thus a reason gerunds opening a sentence are not favored in most cases to start a sentence, because they are improperly used. Over use, even properly also sort of sounds like a list of actions and thus becomes boring.

Of course, I could be wrong about all of this too, as its been a very long time, but hell, I might open the discussion... lol.
 

The Lonely One

Why is a raven like a writing desk?
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 13, 2008
Messages
3,750
Reaction score
477
Location
West Spiral Arm
Hoping I could answer the question, I entered some text. Editing my post, I continued to enter text. Feeling that this could get annoying if overused, I varied my sentence rhythm.
 

Chrisla

practical experience, FTW
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 9, 2008
Messages
1,247
Reaction score
49
Location
Northern California
Okay, I think I get the distinction. I sometimes use these words to begin a sentence simply to avoid another beginning with "I". In future, I'll double-check to make sure I have a subject.

Thanks!
 

scigars

Registered
Joined
Jan 23, 2010
Messages
3
Reaction score
2
First, don’t open a sentence with an -ing phrase unless the action occurring in that phrase happens at the same time as the action in the main part of the sentence (or unless you’ve included a word like “after” to clarify the timing). The following sentences don’t work:

Unlocking the door, she left the room.

Walking toward him, she placed her hand along his cheek.

Do you see why? You can’t unlock the door and leave the room at the same time, and it’s highly unlikely that you would be placing your hand on someone’s cheek while walking toward them. Such sentences need to be reworded.

Also, when you start a sentence with a participial phrase, that phrase needs to modify the subject of the main clause. This sentence is also incorrect:

Nearing unconsciousness again, his head slumped forward.

It really isn’t his head that’s nearly unconscious. To make this correct, you’d need to rephrase to say something along the lines of “He neared unconsciousness again, and his head slumped forward.”

I hope this helps someone!
 

bonitakale

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 22, 2008
Messages
1,485
Reaction score
165
Location
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Website
www.bkedits.com
Re-read what scigars said-- it's very clear, and those are the two problems you have to look out for. Either of them can slip up on you because your own picture of what's happening takes over your brain, and you don't realize you've described something different.
 

Libbie

Worst song played on ugliest guitar
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
5,309
Reaction score
1,094
Location
umber and black Humberland
Ing-ing too much is the root of all dangling participles :D

I've always thought "dangling participle" would be a good euphemism. For -- you know -- naughty bits. Or a good band name.

Man, I have so much to learn about grammar. I'm happy that I seem to have absorbed most of its finer points just by paying attention to what I read, but I have no idea what a dangling participle is, nor have I ever heard anybody say you shouldn't start or end a sentence with an -ing verb. These threads are so informative. Just wanted to share.
 

Lady Ice

Makes useful distinctions
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 11, 2009
Messages
4,776
Reaction score
417
Okay, I think I get the distinction. I sometimes use these words to begin a sentence simply to avoid another beginning with "I".

That's exactly why they make bad openings; because they sound so forced. It's basically just switching clauses around.
 

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
43,746
Reaction score
8,652
Location
Los Angeles
Website
www.amazon.com
That's exactly why they make bad openings; because they sound so forced. It's basically just switching clauses around.

Exactly. To use participial clause just to avoid using "I" is the wrong reason. It's not organic. There are better ways to write than simply shifting the sentences around. Not to mention it creates too many opportunities for dangling participles or wrong usage (e.g. when the actions are not simultaneous -- the "opening the door, I left the room" type of errors).
 
Last edited:

blacbird

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Messages
36,987
Reaction score
6,158
Location
The right earlobe of North America
Okay, I think I get the distinction. I sometimes use these words to begin a sentence simply to avoid another beginning with "I".

This in itself is a symptom of a problem: overusing "I". That topic has been discussed on numerous other threads here. But, as has been noted, use of leading participial phrases to compensate for that doesn't really help.

caw
 

Chrisla

practical experience, FTW
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 9, 2008
Messages
1,247
Reaction score
49
Location
Northern California
Checked out the threads. Slapped forehead, said "duh!" and on my way to find all my "ing" endings and "I" words. Thanks, everybody.