Hello native English speakers. The following five sentences are to express the same meaning, but , as a native Chinese speaker, with very limited English, I still have no right or power to decide the whether or not they are grammatically correct and whether or not they have the same meaning.

1. Rather than continue the argument, he walked away.
2. He walked away rather than continue the argument.
3. He walked away rather than continued the argument.
4. Rather than continuing the argument, he walked away.
5. He walked away rather than continuing the argument.
Question: Which is grammatically correct?
Do they have the same meaning?

Question

Hello native English speakers. The following five sentences are to express the same meaning, but , as a native Chinese speaker, with very limited  English, I still have no right or power to decide the whether or not they are grammatically correct and whether or not  they have the same meaning.

1. Rather than continue the argument, he walked away.
2. He walked away rather than continue the argument.
3. He walked away rather than continued the argument.
4. Rather than continuing the argument, he walked away.
5. He walked away rather than continuing  the argument.
Question:  Which is grammatically correct?
Do they have the same meaning?

Answer

1, 2,  are correct

3 is incorrect  (CONTINUED does not work)
 
4 and 5 are technically incorrect in my opinion, but native speaker might say it that way, if they're not great at grammar.

Answer

4 is correct. They all have the same meaning - but number 4 is grammatically correct.