Removing his coat, Jack rushed to the river.

[Volcano1985]

Removing his coat, Jack rushed to the river.

Here removing is an adjective participle but when we ask: how jack rushed to the river, removing his coat. So why is it not called as adverb?

[MrPedantic]

Hello V.,

"Removing" is a participle, as you say. But you can call the whole phrase "removing his coat" adverbial in function, if you think it qualifies "rushed".

To my mind, however, it tells us more about Jack, and is adjectival:

1. Jack-removing-his-coat rushed to the river.

Or, if the removal preceded the rushing (which we can't determine), perhaps the participle stands for a separate action.

Best wishes,

MrP

[Molly]

If it were an ellipted "upon", what part of speech would "removing" be?

"<Upon> Removing his coat, Jack rushed to the river."

[MrPedantic]

Which part(s) of speech can be the complement of a preposition, M?

[Molly]

[MrPedantic]

"Try to call"?

Do they not succeed?

But yes, if you change it to "upon removing", "removing" is then a gerund.

MrP