Combining with Subordination
Question
The painter finished her mural last week. It depicts the history of the neighborhood.
Answer choices
- , and it depicts
- , which depicts
- NO CHANGE
- . Depicting
B Correct answer: B) , which depicts
The two sentences share an obvious noun-modifier relationship: the second describes what the mural depicts. Subordinating with a comma plus "which" produces tighter, more sophisticated prose: "The painter finished her mural last week, which depicts the history of the neighborhood." The ACT consistently rewards combination over short choppy sentences.
The other options either introduce a grammatical error or change the intended meaning. The ACT consistently rewards the most concise, grammatically correct option.
Read the sentence with each option substituted in. The version that preserves meaning while obeying the underlying rule is the correct answer; on the ACT, that is almost always the shortest option that still works.
The underlying rule
Subordination (using a relative clause) tightens prose by attaching extra information to a noun without starting a new sentence. The relative pronoun "which" introduces a nonessential clause modifying "mural."
Why each wrong answer is wrong
- A) , and it depicts: This option either splits the ideas into two short sentences unnecessarily or creates a fragment.
- C) NO CHANGE: This option either splits the ideas into two short sentences unnecessarily or creates a fragment.
- D) . Depicting: This option either splits the ideas into two short sentences unnecessarily or creates a fragment.
Study tip
When two adjacent sentences share a noun and the second adds a description of that noun, you can usually combine them with a relative pronoun: who (people), which (nonessential things), that (essential things).
More Hard Sentence Structure
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- Combining with SubordinationThe painter finished her mural last week. It depicts the history of the neighborhoo