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Question

Difficulty: HardSentence Fragments

The following passage is an excerpt from a linguistics article about unique languages.

Because Basque is a language isolate with no known living relatives, linguists have struggled to determine its origins. Although many scholars who have attempted to link it to various language families, including Iberian and Caucasian.

Which of the following choices represents the best correction for the underlined portion?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. Many scholars have attempted to link it to various language families, including Iberian and Caucasian.Answer
  3. C
    Although many scholars have attempted to link it to various language families; including Iberian and Caucasian.
  4. D
    Many scholars have attempted to link it to various language families, they have proposed connections to Iberian and Caucasian.

Answer

The correct option removes the subordinating conjunction and relative pronoun to form a complete independent sentence: 'Many scholars have attempted to link it to various language families, including Iberian and Caucasian.'
The correct option removes both the subordinating conjunction 'Although' and the relative pronoun 'who'. This action leaves 'Many scholars' as the main subject and 'have attempted' as the main verb, establishing a complete, independent sentence.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the underlined sentence for subject-verb completeness.
The original text contains 'Although' (a subordinating conjunction) and 'who' (a relative pronoun), meaning the clauses are subordinated and there is no main independent verb for the subject 'scholars'. This results in a sentence fragment.
Every sentence must have at least one independent clause containing a subject and a verb that expresses a complete thought.
2
Evaluate the choices to see which one creates a complete, independent sentence without introducing punctuation or run-on errors.
The option beginning with 'Many scholars' removes the subordinating conjunction 'Although' and the relative pronoun 'who', leaving 'scholars' as the subject and 'have attempted' as the main verb, successfully creating an independent clause.
Removing the elements that subordinate the clause turns it into a grammatically correct standalone sentence.
3
Verify that the other choices introduce new grammatical errors.
The option containing a semicolon incorrectly separates a dependent phrase with a semicolon, and the option with 'they have proposed' joins two independent clauses with a comma, causing a comma splice.
Eliminating grammatically flawed options ensures the chosen correction is the only valid choice.

Key Concept

A complete sentence requires a subject and a verb that express an independent, complete thought. Subordinating conjunctions and relative pronouns can turn independent clauses into fragments if they are not attached to a main independent clause.
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Sentence Fragments

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