The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to

No, that not what happens in B.

Remember: COMMA + ING modifier the whole preceding clause.
With just an exception: ", including" Example "... her books, including Harry Potter."

With that said

The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to whales and in fact
B. include the animal known as the killer whale, growing as big as 30 feet long and (...)

growing modifies the whole preceding clause, not the killer wale nor the 32 species. Modify the preceding clause mean two thing:
1)present the results of an action
2)add information

If you want to modify a single noun "the killer whale" you cannot use COMMA + ING, but you have to use a noun modifier (such as "which").

Hope everything is clear

The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to whales and in fact include the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and is famous for its aggressive hunting pods.

"The 32 species" is the subject here. 'that make up the dolphin family' is just extra infor about subject. So ignore it.
The subject is plural, so we will look for ans choices with 'include'
Take D and E out.

Among A, B and C

(A) include the animal known as the killer whale,which can grow to be 30 feet long and is >> Correct

(B) include the animal known as the killer whale,growing as big as 30 feet long and >> 'Growing' and 'is famous' are not parallel.

(C) include the animal known as the killer whale,growing up to 30 feet long and being >> wrong use




Its a very simple S-V question. They have already done half work for you. Look at the sentence carefully.

The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to whales and in fact

The 'are' in sentence already tell you that the subject is plural.

If you have question about HOW to identify subject in a sentence, then you might want to go through grammar basics. Aristotle SC grail has clear and concise chapter on grammar basics.

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of the crucial part of this sentence is that the 32 species that make up the dolphin family include the animal known as the killer whale, and the killer whale can grow to be 30 feet long and is famous for its aggressive hunting pods.

Concepts tested here: Subject-Verb Agreement + Meaning + Verb Forms + Parallelism

• The introduction of the present participle ("verb+ing"- “growing” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship.
• “being” is only to be used when it is part of a noun phrase or represents the passive continuous verb tense; the use of passive continuous must be justified in the context.
• Any elements linked by a conjunction ("and" in this sentence) must be parallel.

A: Correct. This answer choice correctly refers to the plural noun "32 species" with the plural verb "include". Moreover, Option A correctly refers to the singular noun "the killer whale" with the singular pronoun "its". Further, Option A uses the phrase "which can grow to be 30 feet long", conveying the intended meaning - that the 32 species that make up the dolphin family include the animal known as the killer whale, and as a separate action, the killer whale can grow to be 30 feet long and is famous for its aggressive hunting pods. Additionally, Option A maintains parallelism between "can grow to be 30 feet long" and "is famous for its aggressive hunting pods". Besides, Option A is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

B: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "growing as big as 30 feet long"; the use of the "comma + present participle ("verb+ing" - "growing" in this sentence) incorrectly implies that the 32 species that make up the dolphin family include the animal known as the killer whale, and as a result, the 32 species can grow to be up to 30 feet long and are famous for their aggressive hunting pods; the intended meaning is that the 32 species that make up the dolphin family include the animal known as the killer whale, and as a separate action the killer whale can grow to be 30 feet long and is famous for its aggressive hunting pods; please remember, the introduction of the present participle ("verb+ing"- “growing” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship. Further, Option B incorrectly refers to the plural noun "32 species" with the singular pronoun "its". Additionally, Option B uses the needlessly wordy phrase "as big as 30 feet long", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

C: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "growing as big as 30 feet long"; the use of the "comma + present participle ("verb+ing" - "growing" in this sentence) incorrectly implies that the 32 species that make up the dolphin family include the animal known as the killer whale, and as a result, the 32 species can grow to be up to 30 feet long and are famous for their aggressive hunting pods; the intended meaning is that the 32 species that make up the dolphin family include the animal known as the killer whale, and as a separate action the killer whale can grow to be 30 feet long and is famous for its aggressive hunting pods; please remember, the introduction of the present participle ("verb+ing"- “growing” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship. Further, Option C incorrectly refers to the plural noun "32 species" with the singular pronoun "its". Additionally, Option C is awkward and needlessly wordy due to its use of the word "being"; please remember, “being” is only to be used when it is part of a noun phrase or represents the passive continuous verb tense; the use of passive continuous must be justified in the context.

D: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the plural noun "32 species" with the singular verb "includes". Further, Option D uses the needlessly wordy phrase "as big as 30 feet long", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

E: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the plural noun "32 species" with the singular verb "includes". Further, Option E fails to maintain parallelism between "can grow to be 30 feet long" and "it is famous for its aggressive hunting pods"; please remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("and" in this sentence) must be parallel.

Hence, A is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Comma + Present Participle for Cause-Effect Relationship" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~3 minutes):



To understand the use of "Being" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

The fault that i find with the sentence is "grow to be". The fault is corrected by choices B and D. D is the most appropriate construction.

I think I may be wrong, but in B, shouldn't "growing as big as 30 feet long" simply be "growing as big as 30 feet" (the long is redundant).
The same error crops up in D.
In C, there is a shift in tense.
The "it" in E is not needed.

So, I am going to go w/ A.

I pick B (parallel relative pronoun)
Since we have two relative pronoun which modify "the killer whale"
1.which can grow to be 30 feet long---->growing as big as 30 feet long
2.which is famous for its aggressive hunting pods. ---famous for its agressive hunting pods.

A. the killer whale, (relative pronoun)which can grow to be 30 feet long and (verb)is

C. include the animal known as the killer whale, (relative pronoun)growing up to 30 feet long and being(which is being--passive relative)---Active not parallel passive

D. include the animal known as the killer whale, (relative pronoun)which can grow as big as 30 feet long and (verb)is

E. include the animal known as the killer whale, (relative pronoun) which can grow to be 30 feet long and clause it is

The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to whales and in fact include the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to
be 30 feet long and is famous for its aggressive hunting pods.

(A) include the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and is

(B) include the animal known as the killer whale, growing as big as 30 feet long and

(C) include the animal known as the killer whale, growing up to 30 feet long and being

(D) includes the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow as big as 30 feet long and is

(E) includes the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and it is

For option (B)

Please correct me if I'm wrong some where

Clauses
Cl1 32 species make up the dolphin family
Cl2 32 species that.... family are closely related(Verb1) to whales & in fact
include (Verb 2) the animal know as the killer whale,

Now we know that for the Verb-ing modifier
S V Object , -ing
-ing modifies whole preceding clause (DESCRIBE/RESULT) and not the preceding noun or the subject

As per the explaination in the OG for choice B
"Changing the verb to the participial growing
introduces ambiguity, because it could refer
backto the subject of the sentence {32
species)."

1) Please help to clarify how can -ing modify(thus create amiguity) the subject and not the whole clause

2) For choice B
CL2 : 32 species <are closely related ...> & <include .....whale>,

mod1 <growing upto 30 feet> :

If we consider only this mod. would it be correct to say that it(such an -ing modifier) can meaningfully describe about the CL2 as a whole ?
would it make any sense here

Because it becomes confusing in few questions in which -ing is used to modify the preceding clause (whereas it made more sense to modify preceding noun by using relative pronoun)
(i.e can such cases of modifier be considered as a DESCRIPTION of the preceding clause)

(if possible Please explain with an example for this doubt )

EDIT: I notice that this problem is not correctly stated. D/E are introduced with "includes", not include, in the correct OG problem (problem #67). A lot more people would be correct on this one, had they known to eliminate D/E right off the bat.

B) "the animal..., (verb-ing) "as big as" is just wrong. You shouldn't have a present participle in this case, and "as big as" is not the correct expression. B gone

C) Again, verb-ing is wrong both for growing and being. C gone

D) "as big as" is an awkward expression in general, but other than that this sentence looks nice. Keep as a contender.

E) "can grow to be" is not the correct expression, also "it" is superfluous, eliminate E.

A) "can grow to be" implies that there is a probability that the/a killer whale grows up to 30 feet, that makes perfect sense and is the intended meaning of the author. Also, the "is" logically flows into famous. Between A and D, A sounds much, much better so we go with A.

Hi Govind, to identify whether the subject is family or 32 species or something else, we need to look at the verb. As you have rightly figured out, include/includes is the verb here. As you would appreciate, subject is nothing but the doer of the verb.

So, to identify the subject, let's identify who/what is the doer of the verb.

In other words, who/what is the doer of include/includes.

In other words, who/what include/includes the animal known as the killer whale?

In the context of the sentence, it should be clear that the 32 species include the animal known as the killer whale.

So, the 32 species is the subject and hence, the verb include is appropriate.

On a side note, the clauses in the first part of the sentence are:

i) The 32 species are closely related to whales

ii) (The 32 species) include the animal known as the killer whale

iii) that make up the dolphin family

Through this deconstruct also, it should be evident that the 32 species include the animal known as the killer whale.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses subject identification in significant detail. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id, I can mail the corresponding section.

I just got a small doubt with the explanation provided by you.

Obviously the correct ans is OA A.

But in case of B and C, growing modifies the Entire preceding clause and not the subject alone. As per my understanding, Growing as big as........ and Growing up to be..... is a verbing modifier.

[b]A verbing modifier that appears after a clause and is preceded by a comma, modifies the entire preceding clause.

In this case modification of entire preceding clause, as in options B and C is wrong.

OA A has the correct modification. Which modifies Killer Whale.

D and E can be ruled out for S-V agreement.

It would be nice of you if you can point out where my thinking is wrong. Please guide me.[/b]

S_V agreement problem in D&E. 32 Species (Plural) _ Includes (singular) - wrong.

D E Eliminated.
Growing is Verb-ing modifier and wrongly modifying 32 species. B C eliminated

AS big as & Long together are unnecessary. Eliminate B D

A remains.

(A) include the animal known as the killer whale,which can grow to be 30 feet long and is -- Correct; which comes right after the comma and modifies the noun right before it.
(B) include the animal known as the killer whale,growing as big as 30 feet long and -- Incorrect use of -ing verb, changes the meaning
(C) include the animal known as the killer whale,growing up to 30 feet long and being -- Incorrect use of -ing verb, changes the meaning
(D) includes the animal known as the killer whale,which can grow as big as 30 feet long and is -- includes is wrong
(E) includes the animal known as the killer whale,which can grow to be 30 feet long and it is[/quote] -- includes is wrong

Hi Palelemon,

I would like to add something to the usage of 'being' here. Many posts say that usage of 'being' is wrong in GMAT which isn't the case. Like you said, 'being famous' is ungrammatical. I would like to differ. Firstly, 'Being famous' isn't a clause/statement.

Lets say 'Being famous is enjoyable'. Here being is used as a noun and combined with the verb 'is', the sentence is absolutely fine.
Secondly, being can be used for continuous tenses. Eg: He is being mean.

We have official evidences in the OG as well where the correct choice contains being.

(Please refer to the discussions regarding 'being' by E-GMAT).

Here the usage of being would be wrong since Being famous for its aggressive hunting pods will then have no verb and would result in a fragment. (Being famous is the noun here without a verb).

The subject of the verb "include" is "species", which is plural. (The 32 species include xxxx)
E is wrong because the plural subject "species" does not match with singular verb "includes"..

The verb does not indicate whether the object is singular or plural. The object of the verb "include" could be singular or plural.

Here the object "the killer whale" is singular, one of those 32 species. "The killer whale" does not depict a single animal, but the species as a whole. Nonetheless "the killer whale" is singular - one species. Definite article "the" can be used to depict a species as a whole.

I was able to mark the correct answer choice. Just to improve my understanding that why an answer choice is wrong, i got one doubt.

Please clarify.

Option E

includes the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and it is

Above option can be ruled out because the verb includes does not agree with plural subject.

However if the option choice is changed as below

include the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and it is

Now is the above answer choice incorrect?

Is the usage of it incorrect ?

Hi Sahil,

Thanks for posting your doubt here.

The reason why the modified version of Choice E is incorrect is that the list is not grammatically parallel now. The elements in the list are as follows:

1. which can grow to be 30 feet long and
2. it is

Please note that while the first entity in the list is dependent clause, the second is an independent clause. Since both the information pertain to killer whale, which should be uses as the subject of both the verbs can grow and is connected by the connector and to create the correct parallel list.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha