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Need help from LunarPower, to clarify SC concept - Confused!

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daurentur
 Post subject: Need help from LunarPower, to clarify SC concept - Confused!
 Post Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 5:17 am 
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Students


Posts: 13
Ron,

Can you please tell me if there is a problem with participle modifier - ..., containing far less.... in version 1)?


1) Cryptenitis, are much like the volcanic rock obsidian, but their chemical composition is different from that of any terrestrial lava, containing far less hydrogen than obsidian does and none of its characteristic ionized sulfides;

2) Cryptenitis, are much like the volcanic rock obsidian, but their chemical composition is different from that of any terrestrial lava; they contain far less hydrogen than obsidian does and none of its characteristic ionized sulfides;

Also is version 1) inferior to version 2)?
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jnelson0612
 Post subject: Re: Need help from LunarPower, to clarify SC concept - Confused!
 Post Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2012 10:32 pm 
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ManhattanGMAT Staff


Posts: 1857
daurentur wrote:
Ron,

Can you please tell me if there is a problem with participle modifier - ..., containing far less.... in version 1)?


1) Cryptenitis, are much like the volcanic rock obsidian, but their chemical composition is different from that of any terrestrial lava, containing far less hydrogen than obsidian does and none of its characteristic ionized sulfides;

2) Cryptenitis, are much like the volcanic rock obsidian, but their chemical composition is different from that of any terrestrial lava; they contain far less hydrogen than obsidian does and none of its characteristic ionized sulfides;

Also is version 1) inferior to version 2)?


First, is there really a comma after "Cryptenitis"? There really shouldn't be. That's like saying "Cats, are much like dogs". Read that out loud and pause with the comma--weird and wrong!

In my opinion version 2 is superior to 1. The semicolon connects two independent clauses that could each stand on their own but are closely connected, so this use is appropriate in this context. The pronoun "they" clearly refers to "Cryptenitis" and the meaning is very clear. In 1) the "containing" phrase is trying to describe the noun Cryptenitis, but since it is describing that noun it should sit next to the noun it is describing. Noun modifiers must be next to the nouns that they modify.

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Jamie Nelson
ManhattanGMAT Instructor
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