Which choice best improves the underlined portion of the sentence? If the sentence is ok as is, choose (A).
Pop artist Ed Ruscha was fascinated by words, and have consistently formed the principal subject matter of his paintings.
(A) words, and have consistently formed the principal subject matter
(B) words, and words have consistently formed the principal subject matter
(C) words which have consistently formed the principal subject matter
(D) words, consistently they have formed the principal subject matter
(E) words, which have consistently formed the principal subject matter
What does “have” refer to here? Ed Ruscha or the words that he was fascinated by? As you read on, it’s clear that it refers to the words. The problem here is with the word “and” after the comma. It needs to be followed by “which.” That leaves us with choices (C) and (E). What’s the difference between these two? The meaning of (C) is that Ed is fascinated only by those words which formed the subject matter of his paintings. (E), on the other hand, is saying that he was fascinated by words, and that words formed the subject matter of his paintings. That is certainly the intention of this sentence. The answer is (E).
source: urch.com
