For example:
It is a thing that works producing stuff.
This feels wrong to me, but I can’t quite put my finger on what exactly is wrong about it. It seems like it’s trying to be a participle phrase, but it’s not necessarily modifying the current state of “it”, and is, instead, describing what “it” is.
If it is, indeed, a participle phrase, then it should be able to be written as
Producing stuff, it is a thing that works.
But, to me, this doesn’t seem correct either, so it leads me to believe that the very structure of the sentence is incorrect.
I think both of these are actually correct. They feel fine to me, although I’d probably tighten the first one to “It is a thing that produces stuff.”
Maybe it’s a dialect thing?
That omits descriptive information though. The example includes the fact that the thing “works” which is how it “produces stuff”.
It is certainly a grammatical issue.
How about an infinitive? “It is a thing that works to produce stuff.”
Hm, while that does seem to fit, it feels as if its intent doesn’t necessarily align. To me, that is more of a description of it’s purpose rather than what it does.
Ok, how about doubling up on the present participles? “The thing is working, producing stuff.”
deleted by creator