有一读者问： 小说 《简·爱》（Jane Eyre ）第四章第六段有这样一句话：
(1)Mrs. Reed was rather a stout woman; but, on hearing this strange and audacious declaration, she ran nimbly up the stair, swept me like a whirlwind into the nursery, and crushing me down on the edge of my crib, dared me in an emphatic voice to rise from that place, or utter one syllable during the remainder of the day.
请问如何分析上述句中的crushing me down on the edge of my crib? 为什么不置于句首？ 它与having crushed和crushed有什么区别？
这是一个有关现在分词短语的位置及其用法的问题。总的说来，现在分词短语在句中有三种位置：首位、末位与央位。位于句首的现在分词短语比较常见，即以Jane Eyre第四章为例，就有：
(2)...passing through and curtseying low , I looked up at... — a black pillar! —...
(3)...bending from the perpendicular , he installed his person in the armchair, opposite Mrs. Reed's.
(4)...gathering up her work , she abruptly quitted the apartment.
以上三例中的现在分词短语显然皆用作时间状语，其所表的动作皆发生在全句的谓语动词之前。
位于句末的现在分词短语也比较普通，试仍以《简·爱》（Jane Eyre ）一书中的一些句子为例：
(5)I soon possessed myself of a volume, taking care that it should be one stored with pictures.
(6)I fell, striking my head against the door and cutting it. （这里有两个并列的现在分词短语，表示两个接连的动作）
(7)They went, shutting the door , and locking it behind them. （这里也有两个并列的现在分词短语，表示两个接连的动作）
上述三例中的现在分词短语显然都是伴随状语，所表的动词皆发生在谓语动词之后。
现在让我们谈谈位于句子当中的现在分词短语。这种现在分词短语也并不罕见，尤其在叙述文体中。上述句（1）中的crushing me down on the edge of my crib即是较为典型的一例，再如（仍皆摘自《简·爱》[Jane Eyre ]）:
(8)Then he laid me down, and addressing Bessie , charged her to be very careful that I was not disturbed during the night.
(9)...then she touched my cheek gently with her forefinger, and saying ,“She hoped I should be a good child”，dismissed me along with Miss Miller.
(10)Four tall girls arose from different tables, and going round , gathered the books and removed them.
(11)Miss Miller left her circle, and standing in the middle of the room , cried,“Silence! To your seats!”
(12)I was similarly equipped, and, following the stream , I made my way into the open air.
这种现在分词短语之前除常用and外，亦可用and then或then, 如：
(13)...she hauled me to the washstand, inflicted a merciless, but happily brief scrub on my face and hands with soap, water, and a coarse towel; disciplined my head with a bristly brush, denuded me of my pinafore, and then hurrying me to the top of the stairs, bid me go down directly, as I was wanted in the breakfast-room.
(14)Miss Miller signed to me to sit on a bench near the door, then walking up to the top of the long room, she cried out,“Monitors, collect the lesson-books and put them away!”
由上述七例可以看出，处在央位中的现在分词短语有以下几个特点：
1. 它多位于谓语动词与谓语动词之间，置于and或and then 或then之后；and之后可有逗号（表一停顿），也可没有逗号。
2. 它一般皆用作表时间的状语，其意相当于“在……之后”。
3. 它所表的动作与其后的谓语动词所表的动作紧相连接，中间没有时距。这就是它与其置于主语之前（或句首）或用现在分词完成式所不同之处，后二者所表的动作比较从容不迫。
4. 它与任何其他现在分词短语一样，也是具有从属性的。较之于其后的谓语动词，显然处于次要的地位。如将现在分词改用过去一般时等一般时态，它就处于与其前后的谓语动词平起平坐的地位了。
最后必须指出，总的说来，现在分词短语多用于书面语中，如果不是更加文气的话处在央位中的现在分词短语亦是如此。
