Thanks a lot for the great explanation!

GMATGuruNY wrote:Generally, COMMA + VERBing serves to modify the nearest preceding action and the agent of this action.

Given this rule, I received a PM requesting that I justify the usage of COMMA + needing in the OA:
Insurance companies in California were free to charge whatever rates the market would bear, needing no approval from regulators.

Here, the two colored portions serve not as an agent but as an OBJECT for the verb charge.
Question: WHAT do insurance companies charge?
Answer: They charge WHATEVER RATES THE MARKET WOULD BEAR.
Because the two colored portions do not serve as an agent -- the red portion is simply an adjective describing the blue portion -- it is clear that COMMA + needing refers not to the two colored portions but to INSURANCE COMPANIES (the agent of charge).

Mitch Sir,

What does prevent 'comma + needing' from modifying the nearest action bear and its agent market? That was the reason why I eliminated A, basing on the rule you mentioned. I would appreciate If you could elaborate on this. Thank you very much beforehand.

ShukhratJon wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote:Generally, COMMA + VERBing serves to modify the nearest preceding action and the agent of this action.

Given this rule, I received a PM requesting that I justify the usage of COMMA + needing in the OA:
Insurance companies in California were free to charge whatever rates the market would bear, needing no approval from regulators.

Here, the two colored portions serve not as an agent but as an OBJECT for the verb charge.
Question: WHAT do insurance companies charge?
Answer: They charge WHATEVER RATES THE MARKET WOULD BEAR.
Because the two colored portions do not serve as an agent -- the red portion is simply an adjective describing the blue portion -- it is clear that COMMA + needing refers not to the two colored portions but to INSURANCE COMPANIES (the agent of charge).

Mitch Sir,

What does prevent 'comma + needing' from modifying the nearest action bear and its agent market? That was the reason why I eliminated A, basing on the rule you mentioned. I would appreciate If you could elaborate on this. Thank you very much beforehand.

Insurance companies in California were free to charge whatever rates the market would bear, needing no approval from regulators.

Here, the portion in blue is a NOUN CLAUSE serving as the direct object of to charge.
A noun clause functions as a single unit.
Generally, it is not possible for a nonessential modifier -- such as COMMA + VERBing -- to modify the individual components of a noun clause.
For this reason, it is clear that COMMA + needing refers not to would bear but to the preceding infinitive (to charge) and to the agent of this infinitive (insurance companies).

GMATGuruNY wrote: Here, the portion in blue is a NOUN CLAUSE serving as the direct object of to charge.
A noun clause functions as a single unit.
Generally, it is not possible for a nonessential modifier -- such as COMMA + VERBing -- to modify the individual components of a noun clause.
For this reason, it is clear that COMMA + needing refers not to would bear but to the preceding infinitive (to charge) and to the agent of this infinitive (insurance companies).

Mitch Sir,

Thank you very much for your detailed explanation. However, I still feel a bit confused about COMMA+VERBing here - because I can't help perceiving your other two explanations for the same issue to be contradictory. I would be endlessly grateful if you could shade some light on them. Here are the links:

1. https://www.beatthegmat.com/post760732.html#760732
2. https://www.beatthegmat.com/post752230.html#752230


1. In the first link, the way you elaborate on the OE for D implies that the non-essential which-modifier CAN be removed and, as a result, COMMA+APPLYING seems to refer to HOUSE BUILDERS. You didn't reject that OE and therefore I thought that you must be approving it:

D. Many house builders offer rent-to-buy programs, [which enables a family with insufficient savings for a conventional down payment to move into new housing], applying part of the rent to a purchase later.


2. However, in the second link you wrote that generally, COMMA+VERBing serves to refer to the nearest preceding action and the performer of that action. The implication is that we CAN'T remove the nonessential which-modifier while identifying what COMMA+VERBing is referring to because that COMMA+VERBing can be a part of which-modifier and has to be removed together.

D. ...which enables a family to move into new housing, applying part of the rent to a purchase later.

According to you, here COMMA+APPLYING seems to refer to the nearest action to move and its agent a family. Doesn't this contradict to what you wrote in the first link? I know that D is wrong, and COMMA+APPLYING is an illogical modification here. My question is - what is COMMA+APPLYING actually trying to refer to technically? (I mean can we indeed remove which-modifier the way OE does?)

Thank you very much beforehand!