Can the answer be debated then?

in that case you wouldn't really have to decide which noun is modified, since the meaning of the sentence would be basically the same in either case.

you can't really do that. if you have
clause1, clause2, -ING
then, in most cases, the -ING will modify clause2, not clause1.

here's an example:

the truck spilled a tankful of gasoline, some of which spilled into the river, killing a large number of fish.
--> note that "killing a large number..." modifies the immediately preceding clause, not the first clause.




that wouldn't work; you'd need the commas. otherwise, you're qualifying the sentence: you're saying that you're only choosing from camcorders that weigh less than 11 ounces.

for instance:
the world's tallest man weighing under 150 pounds --> this means that you take the tallest man from the collection of men who weigh under 150 pounds, not the world's tallest man overall.

i want to know whether the subclause in blackface is a run-on sentence.

A run-on sentence is one that has two independent clauses mushed together without appropriate punctuation and/or connecting words (and, or, but, however, etc.).

Here, the entire phrase what it claims is the world's smallest digital camcorder is an object noun (because of the what):

The electronics company has unveiled something.
[-------subject--------] [---verb---][--object-]

Where "something" is that phrase beginning with "what." Alternative phrasings are "something that it claims is the world's smallest digital camcorder" or "a device that it claims is the world's smallest digital camcorder." Using "what" is more concise, but the idea is the same.

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Emily Sledge
Instructor
ManhattanGMAT

thank you, emily! i thought that the following sentence is run-on,but now i know it is OK in GMAT.
1# what it claims is the world's smallest digital camcorder...

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stephen