[ Grammar ] Participial Clause 1
S1 : John met Mary [ walking down the street. ] ( no comma before walking )

S2 : John met Mary [ ,walking down the street. ] ( comma before walking )

S3 : Walking down the street, John met Mary ( comma before John )
 
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Q1: Are there any differences of meaning between S1, S2 , S3 ? 
— S1 = S2 = S3 or S1 =/= S2 = S3 or …. 

Q2: In S1, can we regard Participial Clause “ walking down the street ” as the complement ?  

Q2-1: From Q2, this complement is the Subject Complement to modify John
 
— John met Mary while walking down the street.

or the Object Complement to modify Mary

— John met Mary ( who was ) walking down the street.

or Both are possible ?

Q3: Which one was walking ? John or Mary ? in each S1, S2 , S3

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It's so confusing!

Thanks a lot : )

Question

[ Grammar ]  Participial Clause 1
S1 : John met Mary [ walking down the street. ]  (  no comma before walking  )

S2 : John met Mary [ ,walking down the street. ]  ( comma before walking  )

S3 : Walking down the street, John met Mary ( comma before John  )
 
————————————-

Q1: Are there any differences of meaning between S1, S2 , S3 ? 
      —> S1 = S2 = S3  or  S1 =/= S2 = S3 or ….

Q2: In S1, can we regard Participial Clause “  walking down the street  ” as the complement ?

Q2-1: From Q2, this complement is the Subject Complement to modify John
           
            —> John met Mary while walking down the street.

or the Object Complement to modify Mary
 
           —> John met Mary ( who was ) walking down the street.

or Both are possible ?

Q3: Which one was walking ? John or Mary ? in each S1, S2 , S3

-------------------

It's so confusing!

Thanks a lot : )

Answer

Practical English Usage by Michael Swan has a good, brief explanation of participles.

S1: John met Mary [ walking down the street. ]  (  no comma before walking  )
= John met Mary who was walking down the street.

S2: John met Mary [ ,walking down the street. ]  ( comma before walking  )
= John met Mary while John was walking down the street.  
This is normally considered an error (misrelated participles).

S3: Walking down the street, John met Mary ( comma before John  )
= While John was walking down the street, John met Mary.
This is the preferred form of S2.

Q1: S1 and S3 have different meanings.  S2 is a bad version of S3.

Q2: In S1, "walking down the street" is a participial clause which functions as an adjective modifying Mary.  In S3, "Walking down the street" is a participial clause which functions as an adverb modifying "met."

Q3: In S1, Mary was walking.  In S2 and S3, John was walking.

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