Use of 而 preceding verb I have only been studying a short while in spare time but have seen quite a few simple sentences in which 而 precedes the verb. Are there any basic ideas about the structure of such sentences? Places where this is required, recommended? What really is the meaning of 而 in such a sentence? 

My notes aren't in front of me but I will supplement this later with an example if I can find one and the question is too broad. If it helps, I am only concerned with very simple sentences of this type. 

Edit: (I will replace the toneless Pinyin time allowing, meanwhile I am sure the translations will take care of any ambiguity.)


Ta ying wo de qing qiu er lai. (He came at my request.)
...dui mian er zuo...(sitting opposite each other)
...bu gao er qu...(leaving without announcing)
...yi dai er guo... (mention in passing)
...yan bi er guo ...(hold one's nose in passing, i.e. look down on)


I will look at the answers as soon as possible. My sense is that 'er' functions as a marker of the infinitive and maybe gives a sense of the manner in which the verb is being done or the reason for it. Thanks.
My go-to is usually 百度 Bai Du:

It means: but （not）；yet （not）；and；as well as；

Out of all of the examples there, I only found a couple where it precedes the verb:

我愿意为什么**而** [VERB: 牺牲] 呢？
What am I willing to sacrifice?

你原是为永恒**而** [VERB: 造]。
You were made to last forever.


而 here, as you can see from the translation, can mean "to" as an infinitive (precedes verb). 

However, you'll most often see it used as a coordinator/conjunction...

革命是广泛**而**自发的。
The revolution is broad and spontaneous.


Definitely check out that Bai Du link above... You'll see 而 is also used a lot in conjunction with other words to actually mean many different things... Here's some more examples:

而。。。却 : And...Yet

这些话除了伤痛什么也不能带来 **而** 我们 **却** 乞求它。
Those words bring nothing but pain and yet we beg for it.


而。。。，是为了 : I did [x], so that [y]

而我看这些书，是为了让你不必再去看。
I read these books so that you don't have to.