Thereby vs participle

[redexpo]

In this post https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/forums/medical-researchers-at-harvard-and-stanford-t30344.html, Ron writes

no. you can only use 'comma + __ing' if the __ing part is inseparable from whatever is described in the main clause.

e.g.,
Joseph was struck by a cab, dying instantly.
this sentence CORRECTLY uses 'comma __ing'.
notice that, in this context, it's impossible to separate 'joseph was struck' and 'joseph died'—in other words, it's impossible to conceive of either of them independently of the other—because they are two aspects of exactly the same event.

*Joseph was struck by a cab, dying in the hospital an hour later.
this sentence is INCORRECT, because these are two separate events.

"concluding xxxx" and "recommending yyyy" are certainly not inseparable, so 'comma __ing' can't be used here.

Given this, does "thereby" operate similarly to the correct usage of the participle described above i.e., if it refers to the same action/event? Building on Ron's example from above, can we say, "Joseph was struck by a cab, thereby dying instantly."

GMAC clearly does not think "something remains thus even when" is an awkward construction, since that appears as one of the correct answer choices somewhere in their OG. So, they expect us to have some sense of these useless lawyer words. Thanks.

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

Please feel free to add to existing threads; most likely other students will be interested by your questions too.

The word 'thereby' means 'as a result'. So the sentence you give seems totally acceptable to emphasize the connection. However, you don't really need to use 'thereby', as the comma -ing modifier already shows that it was a result.

I just took a look at that discussion of comma -ing modifiers and I would say that it's much more in depth than you need to score well on GMAT. As interesting as it is, getting too much into the minutiae of meaning and grammar probably isn't the most efficient way to study.

I don't understand your question about "something remains thus even when". Please provide the full example (search to see if it's covered in another thread first).