A participial phrase can be sneaked in almost anywhere in a sentence to add an espresso shot of verbal verve. That horse trotting up to the fence is angling for a sugar lump. It can stretch out the sentence by adding a coda to the main clause. There I was, stuck on an empty train platform as hope seeped away. When two things happen at once, a main clause and participial phrase bring them neatly together. Please do not drool over my enormous milkshake, panting like a lovesick puppy. One of the habits of good writing is adding these non-finite phrases to main clauses to give them an extra lease
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