In 1891, an unknown benefactor bailed out the financially struggling

Sorry to note that this is a poor simulation of the popular OG question cited below.




In the above question, it can be seen that the subject Robert is the doer of the emancipation and thus he and action are rightly modified by the adverbial "setting free", which is the effect of the emancipation. On the contrary, look at the copycat version.

In 1891, an unknown benefactor bailed out the financially struggling National History Museum on the condition that the butterfly park be dismantled, setting free more than 16,000 butterflies and moths, collected over five decades, that were legally considered the property of the museum.

A) setting free more than 16,000 butterflies and moths, collected over five decades, that were legally considered
B) setting free more than the 16,000 butterflies and moths, collected over five decades, legally considered as
C) and set free more than 16,000 butterflies and moths, collected over five decades, legally considered as
D) and set free more than the 16,000 butterflies and moths, collected over five decades, that were legally considered

E) and he set free more than 16,000 butterflies and moths, collected over five decades, that were legally considered as

The adverbial modifier's previous clause is ' the butterfly park be dismantled". Here, it looks as though the butterfly park is setting free the insects. (The command subjunctive mood sentences are always complex sentences, with the main clause and then a subordinate clause starting with 'that' and having the bare infinitive as the subordinate verb.) It is not right for the modifier to jump over the previous clause and modify the benefactor and his bailout action.

I do believe, choices A and B are out of the reckoning solely due to this aberration.

C and E can be dismissed for using the wrong idiom considered as

The use of the definite article 'the' also justifiably makes it clear that the entire collection was set free and not apart.

I would say D is more deserving as the correct choice.

In 1891, an unknown benefactor bailed out the financially struggling National History Museum on the condition that the butterfly park be dismantled, setting free more than 16,000 butterflies and moths, collected over five decades, that were legally considered the property of the museum.

A) setting free more than 16,000 butterflies and moths, collected over five decades, that were legally considered --> correct
B) setting free more than the 16,000 butterflies and moths, collected over five decades, legally considered as
C) and set free more than 16,000 butterflies and moths, collected over five decades, legally considered as
D) and set free more than the 16,000 butterflies and moths, collected over five decades, that were legally considered
E) and he set free more than 16,000 butterflies and moths, collected over five decades, that were legally considered as

Is comma before 'that' not wrong ?
We use comma before 'which' or non essential things ?

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Hello vish3493,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, on the rare occasion when “that” is preceded by a comma, it refers to the noun before the earlier comma; hence, in this sentence, “that” correctly refers to "butterflies and moths".

In other words, "that" can be preceded by a comma, if that comma is part of a pair used to encapsulate extra information.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team