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Modifier: ing vs which

by garuhape » Fri Feb 18, 2011 4:42 am
Hi,

Once thought to be poisonous itself, the tomato is harmless and now eaten in large quantities around the world, and is a member of the generally toxic nightshade family, including belladonna.

Apparently, the phrase "including belladonna" does not properly modify anything. However, if you use the phrase "which includes belladonna", it correctly modifies the "nightshade family."

Can someone please explain this rule to me.

Thanks
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by garuhape » Sat Feb 19, 2011 8:43 am
Push

Cant someone please help me on this one?
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by tetura84 » Sat Feb 19, 2011 9:37 am
which is a relative pronoun, it only refers to the noun immediately preceding it.
So,
Once thought to be poisonous itself, the tomato is harmless and now eaten in large quantities around the world, and is a member of the generally toxic nightshade family, which includes belladonna.
- which correctly refers to nightshade family.

Once thought to be poisonous itself, the tomato is harmless and now eaten in large quantities around the world, and is a member of the generally toxic nightshade family, including belladonna.
- Here, it seems belladonna was also considered as poisonous but now harmless and eaten in large quantities around the world.
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by aspirant2011 » Sun Feb 20, 2011 11:56 pm
"ing" form represents running sentence but in this case running sentence is awkward................
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by Jim@Grockit » Mon Feb 21, 2011 8:28 am
tetura84 wrote:which is a relative pronoun, it only refers to the noun immediately preceding it.
So,
Once thought to be poisonous itself, the tomato is harmless and now eaten in large quantities around the world, and is a member of the generally toxic nightshade family, which includes belladonna.
- which correctly refers to nightshade family.

Once thought to be poisonous itself, the tomato is harmless and now eaten in large quantities around the world, and is a member of the generally toxic nightshade family, including belladonna.
- Here, it seems belladonna was also considered as poisonous but now harmless and eaten in large quantities around the world.
This is the explanation -- "which" is much less ambiguous. The GMAT (and English!) often uses "-ing" participles in phrases at the end of the sentence to modify all of what came before, or the subject of the sentence. Neither makes sense here.
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