Seeing how diverse and fluid English grammar is, it’s hard to draw up precise, firm rules. What’s wrong with that sentence? Factually, nothing: at times it’s very hard indeed. But grammatically, maybe? Still nothing, in my view. But some pedants would not agree. And they have a point.

Their point, which they see as a rule, is that any present participle, the form of the verb ending in -ing — seeing or talking, for instance — must have a noun (or pronoun) as its subject, to show who or what is doing the seeing or talking or whatever. So look at this sentence: playing poker, it’s essential to bluff. Here the pedants would ask, and I tend to agree with them, just who is playing poker? I don’t say, as they would, that the sentence is flatly wrong. But personally I’d write if you’re playing poker, or for anyone playing poker.

The pedants have a further point. Try this: watching the blonde on the bicycle, Bond’s Ferrari slammed into the parked taxi. There’s the subject of…

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Photo credit | Grammar by Celestine Chua on Flickr