Is the use of the participle correct here?

Question

Do participle phrases and clauses refer to particular instances only or can they also refer to long-term habits?

Studying the topic, he understood the concept well.

Here the sentence refers to a particular time when he studied the topic and understood the concept well. Would it make sense to employ the same phrase or a suitable variant of it to suggest habitual actions? Like someone's studying topics and understanding concepts on a regular basis. Or do I have to write it something like:

Because he studied the topics thoroughly, he understood the concepts well.

Edwin Ashworth · Accepted Answer

The participle clause construction does not itself determine duration:

Being a lifelong chocaholic, he struggled to keep his weight below 13 stone. (durative)

Hitting his thumb with a hammer, he yelled. (punctive)

The nature of the participle obviously makes a big difference. Some verbs allow durative aspect, others virtually force a punctive reading (though it's conceivable that the hitting of the thumb was repetetive).

Living in France, he drank quite a lot of good wine.

This is obviously durative, but how long-term the residing in France was we're not told.

Studying the topic, he understood the concept well.

Again, obviously not punctive, but we don't know whether the study was for a season
('While he was studying ...'), or lifelong
('As a lifelong student of ...').
'While', 'because ... ' and 'in order to ... ' (or context) are often needed to disambiguate the meanings of  ing-clauses.

Is the use of the participle correct here?

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