Amounting and amount to

amysky_0205 wrote:For the first time in the modern era, non-Hispanic Whites are officially a minority in California, which amounts to a little less than half the population of the state, down from nearly there-quarters only a decade ago.

A. which amounts to a little less than half the population of the state, down from nearly three-quarters only a decade ago
B. which amounts to a little less than half the population of the state, down from a decade ago, when it was nearly three-quarters
C. and that amounts to a little less than half the population of the state, down from a decade ago, when they were nearly three-quarters
D. amounting to a little less than half the population of the state, down from nearly three-quarters a decade ago
E. amounting to a little less than half the population of the state, down from what it was a decade ago by nearly three-quarters

OA: D

Can someone explain this one?
Also, I would like to know the difference between amounting and amount to

thank u!

ceilidh.erickson wrote:The issue here is not really the distinction between "amounts to" and "amounting," but the distinction between modifiers that begin with "which" and those that begin with a present participle (anything ending in -ing).

Any modifier that begins with "... , which..." is a noun modifier - it's giving you information about a person or thing - and it must modify the noun that directly precedes it. As Mitch said, the "which" clause in A and B is modifying "California," implying that California amounts to half the population....

A modifier following a comma that begins with a present participle, however, is an adverbial modifier - it's modifying the verb or the entire clause. Because it can modify the verb or the clause, it doesn't have to be next to anything in particular. Here, "amounting to half the population" is giving us more information about the entire idea that "non-Hispanic Whites are officially a minority." We need the adverbial modifier here.

Whenever you a split like this:
... , which...
... , ____ing...

Ask yourself - is this modifier giving me more information about a noun or about a verb/clause?