Le Baron wrote:raymondaliasapollyon wrote:Hello,
Could the "Hitting Mary" be okay in the following context?
John had a grudge against Mary. One day, he cameonupon her and her boyfriend sitting in the park. Hitting Mary on the head, he then ran away.
I'd appreciate your help.
Not really, the sentence is nonsensical...unless you add 'then' to 'he ran away' as I did above.
Thank you. I'm investigating when a simple Ving form can replace the "having + past participle" to express a sequence of events. Michael Swan's Practical English Usage has the following example:
Putting down the newspaper, I walked over to the window. (= After I put down ...)
Here, "Putting" is used instead of "Having put."
You added "then" to my example with "hitting." If "Giving her a punch on the head" had been used, would you also have added "then"?
Giving Mary a punch on the head, he ran away.