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I am working on teaching an English grammar point to a group of students in an ESL course.

However, I am not aware of the grammar points that structure and allow this particular usage.

In the example sentences some of them read like Ann turned on the TV. + Ann sat down in her chair. -> Turning on the TV, Ann sat down in her chair.

or: I enter the bathroom. I see the water running. -> Entering the bathroom, I see the water running.

However, one specific example is tripping me up: Tomoki was born in America. Tomoki is good at English. -> Born in America, Tomoki is good at English.

However, the Tomoki answer seems confusing to me. Why is it not “Being born in America, Tomoki is good at English.” The specific reasoning I have for being confused is that Tomoki “was” is a different tense than Tomoki “is.” While in all the previous examples, the verb tenses and subjects were identical.

What makes Tomoki’s example work even though the verb tenses are different?

I appreciate any help in advance!

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  • Your TV example could just as well have been Sitting down in her chair, Ann turned on the TV - and in fact, that way round seems far more natural to me. If we reverse your next example to Seeing the water running, I entered the bathroom, this obviously changes the meaning a lot. Your Tomoki example just happens to feature two assertions, one of which could be seen as the reason for the other being true. But not necessarily - sometimes the extra information provided by one of these "adverbial clauses" is just "extra information" - not a reason, consequence, or whatever.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Feb 14, 2023 at 1:00
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    ...with ESL as their second language???!!! ESL = abbreviation for English as a Second Language.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Feb 14, 2023 at 1:07
  • Hi, here is a related question with a helpful list of related questions in the answer. One of them might answer yours. english.stackexchange.com/q/594661/36710
    – livresque
    Commented Feb 14, 2023 at 1:17
  • Born — a past participle with a backstory — is a tricky example. But if you swap in a different (passive) past participle, you get: Tomoki was raised in America. Tomoki is good at English. → Having been raised in America, Tomoki is good at English → Raised in America, Tomoki is good at English.
    – Tinfoil Hat
    Commented Feb 14, 2023 at 5:12

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The reason "being born" is not used in the example appears to be the fact that the gerund phrases used follow ordinary participial patterns. Some verbs are not idiomatic in present-participle form, and each of the phrases used is referencing a present progressive action or state.

For example, we do not say "I am having a degree in English." We would say, instead, "I have a degree in English." The verb "to have" is infrequently used in present-progressive form, and is highly context-specific.

And the context for "being born" is important here. If we say "Being born in America, . . . " it might imply that the birth was in progress. It would need to be, instead, "Having been born in America, . . ." -- but that can be shortened to simply "Born in America, . . ." as the lesson demonstrates.

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