comma + -ing

Comma-participle construction

This is a difficult one to explain, mainly because what I am trying to correct is less an error than an infelicity of style.

First, look at the following sentences: all of them are correct.

The new law enables private drivers to pick up passengers and charge them fares, allowing ordinary people to work as taxi drivers.

With our new-formula  grime-busting spray, you can clean your house top to bottom in just 14 hours, leaving yourself plenty of time for the important things in your life, such as cooking, shopping and even sleeping!

With a rising number of migrants on its borders, Europe is adopting weak policies, leaving itself vulnerable to accusations of complacency.

Giving up bad habits actually drains your mental resources, rendering you less able to focus your energies on the really important things such as English grammar.

The team played defensively throughout the first half, refusing to take any risks.

My students looked bewildered, upset and confused, giving the strong impression that they were unaccountably uninterested in sentence structure.

Mario stopped typing, deleted his half-finished essay, left the library, the University and the country, swearing never to return.


All I am asking of you is to consider a different, plainer and more direct construction that uses and plus a finite verb rather than the comma-present participle solution marked in bold type above.

Why? Because a finite verb is immediately clear: it is more concrete and creates a greater sense of balance or "parallelism" in the sentence by echoing the finite verb that is to be found in the first part.

You could therefore profitably rewrite the sentences above as follows:

  
The new law enables private  drivers to pick up passengers and charge them fares, and allows ordinary people to work as taxi drivers.

With our new-formula  grime-busting spray, you can clean your house top to bottom in just 14 hours, and leave yourself plenty of time for the important things in your life, such as cooking, shopping and even sleeping!

With a rising number of migrants on its borders, Europe is adopting weak policies, and is leaving itself vulnerable to accusations of complacency.

Giving up bad habits actually drains your mental resources, and renders you less able to focus your energies on the really important things such as English grammar.

The team played defensively through the first half, and refused to take any risks.

My students looked bewildered, upset and confused, and gave the strong impression that they were unaccountably uninterested in sentence structure.

Mario stopped typing, deleted his half-finished essay, left the library, the University and the country, and swore never to return.

I maintain that the second set of sentences is better, but you do not necessarily have to agree. More important is that you remain aware of the second construction when you are writing, and make use of it from time to time.