grammaticality - “She ran… , her nose pressed against the glass” Are the actions simultaneous or consecutive?



She ran towards the display, her nose pressed against the glass.



My friend and I don't understand the same thing when reading this sentence, and neither of us can explain why.


To me, it doesn't make sense. The meaning I get is: She ran towards the display with her nose pressed against the glass.


My friend says it's one action after the other, basically: She ran towards the display, and pressed her nose against the glass.



  • Does anybody know which one of us is right? And why?

  • What does this sentence mean, grammatically?


I have some wild theories of my own, with independent and dependent clauses, and different subjects, and... yeah, wild theories...




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