“She was a small, birdlike woman, her appearance giving the impression of a nervous person.”
I don’t know why they use “giving”, not “gave” or " was giving".
Could you explain it for me? tks
***** NOT A TEACHER *****
Hi:
I believe that your sentence is an example of the so-called “nominative absolute.” (You can find out more information about it in books and on the Internet.)
It is the kind of sentence that one uses in formal speech and especially in writing. We usually do not speak like that. If you used a lot of nominative absolutes in your speech, your listeners would think that you were very strange. They would also laugh at you. But in writing, it is nice to occasionally use it. It will show the reader that you understand English. But do not use it too much.
Here is an example from one of my books:
“The TEACHER BEING ill, we had no school on Monday.”
i. There is a noun (“teacher”) + a (present) participle (“being”).
ii. In ordinary English, we would say something like “Because the teacher was absent, we had no school on Monday.”
Now let’s look at your sentence.
iii. There is a noun (“appearance”) + a (present) participle (“giving”).
iv. In ordinary English, I personally would express that idea in a sentence that is something like: She was a small, birdlike woman, and her appearance gave the impression of a nervous person. (As you can see, the nominative absolute is more elegant.)
Let me end this post with another example from one of my books:
“He sat quietly, his face buried in his hands.” (This time, it is a noun + a PAST participle.)
In regular English, I would express this idea like: He sat quietly, and his face was buried in his hands. / He sat quietly, with his face buried in his hands. / He sat quietly, while he buried his head in his hands. (Someone might have a better way to express the idea.)
The nominative absolute is shorter and more elegant, don’t you think?
James