I understand why C is correct, but I didn't understand why A was incorrect so I selected A initially. Then I read the
OG and I now understand that the reason C is correct is the same reason A is incorrect.
(A) "which revealed a degree of cratering similar to that of the Moon\('s\)"
The comma + which modifier is
correctly used.
However we have a redundancy error caused by the conflict between the relative pronoun "that" and possessive "Moon's".
Substitution will make this easier to see:
, "which revealed a degree of cratering similar to that (cratering) of the Moon's (cratering)" - it's hard to see without substitution, but it's logical to conclude (A) is redundant.
(C) "revealing a degree of cratering similar to that of the Moon"This is correct and here are the rules you need to understand to see this
:
Verb-ing modifier:
- If separated by comma, modifies preceding clause and associates with the subject
- If separated by comma, modifies the following clause or modifies only the subject
- If not separated by comma, modifies the noun
That is a relative pronoun that has a number of rules but here are the ones relevant to this:
- Relative pronouns must be placed close to the noun they modify otherwise it will be incorrect:
- substitute the antecedent for the relative pronoun to confirm agreement and meaning
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