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I'm not sure how to describe the use of the bolded words in the following cases:

Pete is happy singing a song

Anna talked screaming

Mike entered the room screaming and laughing

Is it acting as an adverb? Or has a preposition been elided?

Pete is happy while singing a song

Anna talked while screaming

Mike entered the room while screaming and laughing

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Nico
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    A present participle is only a gerund when it's used where a noun could go. – Matt E. Эллен Mar 06 '14 at 16:23
  • @MattЭллен is the distinction between gerund and present particle widely accepted? – Nico Mar 06 '14 at 16:26
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    This is Off Topic General Reference that seems to be predicated on a complete misunderstanding of what "gerund" means (as opposed to a "progressive/continuous" verb form). – FumbleFingers Mar 06 '14 at 16:27
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    @FumbleFingers, the question still stands, can an ~ing form act as an adverb? – Nico Mar 06 '14 at 16:28
  • I shouldn't have even used participle, as that is used for adjectives. I should have said "the progressive present tense form of a verb". Yes, the distinction is widely accepted. – Matt E. Эллен Mar 06 '14 at 16:28
  • @Nico: I don't really see much point in agonising over the classification of "marginal" usages, but you might want to look at What is the grammatical name of the part of the sentence that is in bold? for an example of "gerund used as adjective". – FumbleFingers Mar 06 '14 at 16:30
  • is everyone happy with the new title? ~ing forms or shall I use something else? – Nico Mar 06 '14 at 16:30
  • @Matt: I was going to use the word "present" myself, but then I thought better of it! :) – FumbleFingers Mar 06 '14 at 16:30
  • The question doesn't stand because act as an adverb is not well-defined. There are many, many uses for -ing forms beside the progressive construction. – John Lawler Mar 06 '14 at 16:31
  • @Nico: If you now have a better understanding of "gerund" so it's no longer General Reference, it will just become a duplicate of the earlier question I linked to above, plus What exactly is an “adverb”? – FumbleFingers Mar 06 '14 at 16:32
  • @FumbleFingers, I don't agree, none of the 4 examples in the linked question correspond to the two cases I'm asking: "Pete is happy singing a song" and "Anna talked screaming" – Nico Mar 06 '14 at 16:35
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    I feel like this would all be cleared up nicely if someone would just answer the damn question: in the sentence "Pete is happy singing a song," what part of speech is "singing"? – phenry Mar 06 '14 at 16:36
  • @phenry: That would have the unwanted (to me, at least) effect of delaying or preventing the question being closed. Unless we know what OP would like "adverb" and "gerund" to mean, there just isn't an answerable question here in the first place. – FumbleFingers Mar 06 '14 at 16:39
  • @FumbleFingers, I'm guessing the ~ing form in "Pete is happy singing a song" and "Anna talked while screaming" is acting as an adverb, but I'm not sure and I would appreciate if someone could tell me what it is and explain why – Nico Mar 06 '14 at 16:41
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    There, I edited the question. It no longer makes any mention of either gerunds or adverbs. Hopefully now the questioner can get an answer, instead of just grief. – phenry Mar 06 '14 at 16:48
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    In 'Pete is happy while singing a song', I believe 'singing' to be part of an adjectival phrase, modifying the proper noun Peter. The same is true of 'Anna talked while screaming'. – WS2 Mar 06 '14 at 17:01
  • @WS2, what I'm really intrigued by is the sentences without the prepositions. Do they have to be interpreted as if a preposition has been elided? – Nico Mar 06 '14 at 17:08
  • @Nico Yes they do. It is exactly the same. In 'Pete is happy singing a song', 'singing a song' is an adjectival phrase modifying 'Pete'. – WS2 Mar 06 '14 at 17:27
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    @WS2 I'm convinced by your argument for "Pete is happy singing a song", but there is something in 'Anna talked screaming' that doesn't sound right. Let me put another example "They entered the room screaming" doesn't sound 100% right, but "They entered the room screaming and laughing" sounds better to my ear. I can't explain why. – Nico Mar 06 '14 at 17:51
  • 'They entered the room screaming'. Who was screaming? Not 'the room', not the 'entering', but it was 'they' who were screaming. So 'screaming' is modifying 'they'. Had it been 'They entered the room quickly', then 'quickly' would have been an adverb, because it describes how they 'entered'. Another way of putting it would be 'Whilst screaming, they entered the room'. – WS2 Mar 06 '14 at 18:52

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In 'Pete is happy while singing a song', I believe 'singing' to be part of an adjectival phrase, modifying the proper noun Peter. The same is true of 'Anna talked while screaming'.

In 'Pete is happy singing a song', 'singing a song' is an adjectival phrase modifying 'Pete'.

'They entered the room screaming'. Who was screaming? Not 'the room', not the 'entering', but it was 'they' who were screaming. So 'screaming' is modifying 'they'.

Had it been 'They entered the room quickly', then 'quickly' would have been an adverb, because it describes how they 'entered'.

Another way of putting it would be 'Whilst screaming, they entered the room'.

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WS2
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