Learn English – How to write a sentence that contains two verbs, and these occur at the same time or one after another

verbs

"It's not much," Travis said. Shane held out the box; I tentatively
looked inside. There was a baby pig looking me right in the eye.

The idea for the pig must have come from a day at the county fair a
few weeks earlier. Travis had noticed me hanging over the pigpen
railing. He'd tipped his hat and ambled over in his high-heeled,
pointy boots. "How dee do, Miss Diana?" he'd asked. My students said
things like that all the time.

"Hi, Travis. I love these piggies," I'd gushed, straining to touch
one. "Don't you?"

He'd turned crimson and touched his hat again." Yes, ma'am," he'd
said. "My cousin Shane raises them."

So they had decided to give me one. As I looked at her, I think my
heart slowed down. I reached in; she sniffed my fingertips, then
began to nose against the side of my hand.

The sentences stated above have been recited from the following link:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/2004/07/11/the-goddess-of-flowers/f0ca69bf-fb03-47e2-bd6a-460073fbdf52/

1) "I'd gushed, straining to touch one"- here, I think, 'straining' and 'gushed' occurred at the same time. First, I thought 'strain' occurred first, then 'gush'. Sometimes, this type of sentence creates difficulty to understand. Because, there are many types of works; two of these can be done at the same time, and these works also can be done one after another. To express these two different cases, -ing is added with one verb without preceding any auxiliary verb before it, another verb is written with its regular form (i, e another verb may be written with its past form, or auxiliary verb is placed before it). Is this rule applicable for both two cases? Please, discuss where that type of construction is allowed and where it is not.

I want to discuss more about my question to make it clear. In "I'd gushed, straining to touch one"- did "staring" happen before "gushed"? Or these two works occured at the same time? If these two works occured at the same time, how to write a sentence in a stylistic way when one occurs after another, or vice versa?

Best Answer

"Hi, Travis . I love these piggies," I'd gushed, straining to touch one.

Is effectively the same as:

"Hi, Travis . I love these piggies," I'd gushed while straining to touch one.

To convey some kind of sequence, you can make it explicit...

"Hi, Travis . I love these piggies," I'd gushed before straining to touch one.

...or by simply shifting both into the same tense:

"Hi, Travis . I love these piggies," I'd gushed and strained to touch one.

"Hi, Travis . I love these piggies," I'd gushed, then strained to touch one.

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