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What function do the -ing verbal forms play in the following sentence?

He sat down calmly, shutting his eyes, thinking.

Are shutting and thinking gerunds? I don't think so, despite the -ing suffix, since they don't seem to work as nouns at all. Any ideas?

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Present participles. Gerunds are present participles functioning as nouns. Present participles not functioning as nouns are not gerunds, but they are still present participles. – RegDwighт♦ Oct 18 '12 at 14:17
@RegDwighт: Thanks! – CesarGon Oct 18 '12 at 14:20

closed as general reference by RegDwighт♦ Oct 18 '12 at 14:17

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