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When I was searching for information about ''which is vs being'', I found information about this topic. It said that using ''which is'' '' is not idiomatic to use in the following sentence;

sentence a)"Various assumptions must be made during the course of a force analysis reflecting the specific characteristics of the particular system being investigated" _____correct one.

sentence b) "Various assumptions must be made during the course of a force analysis reflecting the specific characteristics of the particular system which is investigated" _______incorrect one

If someone can explain that situation (why ''being'' correct ,''which is'' incorrect? )

I will be thankful.

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First, it's important to understand the "deep" structure of the sentences:

"...the specific characteristics of the particular system [which is being investigated]."

The part in brackets [ ] is a relative clause which modifies "system". The rules of reduced relative clauses allow us to omit "which is", so sentence a) is correct.

The deep structure of the sentence is in present continuous passive, while sentence b) is in simple present passive. In this context, simple present is incorrect, so sentence b) is incorrect.

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    I think this answer would be improved if it explained why the simple present is not idiomatic here, since that seems to be the crux of the question.
    – ruakh
    Apr 29 at 4:21
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Actually, you should offset the clause by a comma when using "which", as in:

Various assumptions must be made during the course of a force analysis reflecting the specific characteristics of the particular system, which is investigated.

This changes the meaning and is probably not what you intend. You could use "that" without a comma, as in :

Various assumptions must be made during the course of a force analysis reflecting the specific characteristics of the particular system that is investigated.

However, "being investigated" is the best choice, because it gives an impression that the investigation is ongoing during the force analysis.

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    Why should there be a comma or a change of the relative pronoun? While only "which" can introduce a non-restrictive relative clause, either "which" or "that" can introduce a restrictive relative clause. The version without the comma is restrictive, which is the intent of the original sentence. So, it would be correct as-is if the relative clause were OK at all, but it seems not to be. I agree with your last sentence - the reason the relative clause is wrong is that it changes the aspect from continuous to simple (as @gotube also mentions).
    – Quack E. Duck
    Aug 9 at 5:46
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    @QuackE.Duck Yes, I suppose that avoiding 'which' with a restrictive relative clause is really a style choice. Feel free to edit the answer.
    – Tashus
    Aug 30 at 16:02
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    While I wouldn't choose either option with the relative clause, I do agree with you that "that" sounds better than "which." I was just saying that I don't see any reason why that should be so -- if there is an explanation, it's not one I could provide.
    – Quack E. Duck
    Aug 30 at 19:16

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