I sailed from Bombay on November 11th, arriving a month later in England.

[diamondcutter]

I sailed from Bombay on November 11th, arriving a month later in England.

Source: Longman Language Activator

I know this sentence means I sailed from Bombay on November 11th, and I arrived a month later in England, but it looks a little odd to me. I’d like to know if it’s correct. I mean the use of “arriving”.

 

[probus]

It is perfectly okay. You can always tack on a description using a present participle. Here are a couple of other examples.

1. Robert wore a tie to the meeting, forgetting that business casual is the norm nowadays.

2. Rupert was pleasantly surprised by the friendly greeting, having expected a cool reception.

 

[Skrej]

You'll sometimes even see that present particle made negative.

Diamondcutter thought the sample sentence was incorrect, not fully understanding participle phrases.

While all those examples were based on the present participle, we can also use past participles the same way.

Diamondcutter questioned the example sentence, concerned about its validity.

 

[diamondcutter]

Thanks a lot, dear teachers.

I has an impression that if you want to change one of the coordinate clauses into the present participle, you have to make sure that the actions or states of the verbs in the two clauses happen or are at the same time or at least they have a common point of time. Here are two examples.

1. “Well, okay,” she said, opening the box. = “Well, okay,” she said and opened the box at the same time.
She said and opened the box at the same time.

2. Andrea giggled, choking on her milk. = Andrea giggled, and she choked on her milk.
The last giggle is the beginning of choking.

When I’ve finished writing the last sentence above, I suddenly understand the sentence in the OP--the ending of the sailing is the beginning of the arriving. Am I right?

 

[Tarheel]

Say:

I have an impression that ....

In your examples, one thing immediately follows something else.

Arriving is considerably different from sailing. As soon as the ship reached its destination, it had arrived.

 

[diamondcutter]

Does the original sentence in the OP mean this?
I began to sail/sailing from Bombay on November 11th, arriving a month later in England.

 

[tedmc]

Does the original sentence in the OP mean this?
I began to sail/sailing from Bombay on November 11th, arriving a month later in England.

Yes, that's what it means.

I have an the impression that ....

The definite article is usually used in the above.