Although naturally ranging from Western Europe to the Persian shores o

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION



• HIGHLIGHTS

This question tests gerund usage (verbING words), subordinate conjunctions, modifiers, and shifting verb tenses within a sentence

Meaning?
The common grape vine naturally ranges from X to Y, but the vine, highly adaptable, can sometimes mutate and thus survive in a new environment.

Subordinating conjunctions and clauses
Must although or even though be in a clause that contains a subject and verb?
No, not necessarily. I will give you some official questions in which this guideline does not hold.
Subordinating conjunctions do not always need a subject and verb. I discuss the issue after the POE.

THE PROMPT



THE OPTIONS


• Most of the time, although should be followed by a clause with a subject and a verb.
-- no subject exists, and ranging is not a verb
-- Ranging acts a noun.
-- Ranging is a gerund (a verbING, and in this case, a verb-like noun)

• the adverb naturally can modify the gerund "ranging."
-- This fact is rarely taught as far as I can tell: a gerund retains some verb-like qualities.
(1) A gerund can take a direct object
-- Carrying a heavy pack, the special forces soldier nonetheless moved through the forest noiselessly.
(2) A gerund such as ranging can be modified by an adverb such as naturally. Similarly,
-- Noiselessly carrying a heavy pack through the forest, the special forces soldier took slow steps.

-- The problem is that the phrase although naturally ranging is a noun modifier that is quite far from its noun.
GMAC will allow although and other subordinate conjunctions to be followed by a noun modifier that is not a clause, but almost always, the "although" phrases are short and/or very close to the noun they modify.

-- This option, in other words, contains grammatical but awkward prose that modifies the grape vine.

-- some sources will tell you, incorrectly, that this introductory phrase must say Although + Subject + Verb. Not necessarily.
KEEP this option. It is grammatical. Its prose, though, is not great.


• Almost without exception, although and but cannot be in the same sentence if only two ideas are present. Both words imply contrast.
• Why did I hedge with the words "almost always"? If "but" is an adverb meaning "no more than" or "only," the words but and although can be in one sentence with only two ideas:
Although he returned to playing soccer after his accident, he was but a shadow of the formidable midfielder he had once been.
• I have not seen an official question whose correct answer included but and although are in the same sentence.
Eliminate B


• wrong verb tense. Had demonstrated is called past perfect and is used to talk about "the past of the past."
• when two events happen in the past and one precedes the other, we often use past perfect [had + past participle]to talk about the event earlier in time
-- The restaurant had just opened when I arrived in search of coffee.
• in order to use past perfect, there must be at least one verb in simple tense or a time stamp (such as "by Friday night) that similarly "marks off" the later-in-time.
Eliminate C


• The sentence is grammatical. It is also a rhetorical and stylistic disaster.
• The preposition despite can be followed only by a noun, noun phrase or pronoun.
-- Its naturally ranging is a noun phrase.
-- Ranging is a gerund. Gerunds act as nouns.
-- Yes, the possessive its should precede ranging.
-- as in Option A, the adverb naturally can modify ranging.
Grammatical? Yes. Well-constructed? No.
-- its naturally ranging is awkwardly written.
Raxit85 , this phrasing is an example of rhetorical construction
-- The best way to decide such issues is to read a lot of prose in English and to compare answers.
-- a dedicated noun such as range is preferred to a gerund (a verbING) such as ranging
-- the construction requires its
D: possessive pronoun that sounds weird (its) + naturally (an adverb) + not-dedicated form of the noun, ranging
KEEP, but not happily


• Bingo. The problem in option A is solved.
The word although is followed by a clause with a subject (habitat) and a verb (ranges)
• the verb has demonstrated is correct
-- It is okay to shift verb tenses within a sentence.
-- To talk about things that began in the past and continue into the present and to talk about events whose exact beginning does not matter but whose result does, we often use present perfect, this way: has/have + past participle
-- We can shift to simple present in order to express a general truth, can mutate.
-- (The plant's having adapted is not a general truth. That fact is a description of history.)

Option E's phrasing is much better than the grammatical but stiff and awkward phrasing in option D.

The answer is E

• NOTES

MYTH: Although and even though (and other subordinating conjunctions) must always be followed by a subject and verb in a clause.

The sentences below the spoilers are correct answers to official questions. Although and though are not followed by clauses.
I give only two examples. At least a dozen more examples exist.


Takeaways:
(1) Remember the middle ground. Subordinating conjunctions almost always are followed by a subject and verb in a full clause, but
(2) It is a myth that although must be followed by a clause.
(3) If two choices are otherwise equal but one contains although + clause (as in E) and the other contains although + not clause (as in A), presume that the one with the clause is correct. (Presume that E is correct and if you are worried, try to convince yourself that "although + no clause" is a better answer. You are probably not correct.)
(4) If you are not a native speaker, do not worry too much if everything else seems fine (as in option E) but the verb tense changes.
Verbs attached to the same subject can change tenses in the same sentence.

COMMENTS

These comments are hilarious:
eakabuah
In Accra? No. (I'm teasing. Ghana is huge. I have no idea which part you live in. I recall your mentioning Ghana.)

mykrasovski

Go get wine. Definitely. A glass? At this point I'm ready for a bottle.
(I'm kidding. I never drink a whole bottle of wine.)

exc4libur (who is really good at parsing meaning) - not sure whether the dry wit was intended, but it's funny.


chondro48
Agreed.

Almost everyone wrote very good explanations.
We have a couple wobbles here and there, but that fact is good news.
Why? it's better to get these little wrinkles out and in one place so that we can clear them up.

Kudos to all.

Hi,
IMO E.
Although, despite, even though are supposed to present a contrast. A & B fail to do so.
Naturally is an adverb and it can only modify a verb. In A & D, it seem to be modifying ranging, which is action noun/gerund. A &D are out.
C shifts the tense to pas perfect had and ends up changing the meaning of the sentence. According to C, Vitis vinifera has(present) a natural range and it had(past perfect) sometime in past demonstrated blah blah blah...Incorrect.
This leaves us with E and indeed it is the correct one. Natural habitat ranges(simple present), a fact. The plant has demonstrated(another fact).
_________________

Although naturally ranging from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, has demonstrated high levels of adaptability and can sometimes mutate to accommodate a new environment.


A) Although naturally ranging from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, has demonstrated
"Naturally ranging..." is weird. In addition, the clause after although lacks proper S-V construction

B) Although its habitat ranges naturally from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, but Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, has demonstrated
"Its habitat ranges naturally.." is weird and should be corrected as follows: "its natural habitat ranges from..." In addition, "although... but... " is redundant

C) Even though it has a natural range from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, had demonstrated
The use of past perfect "had demonstrated" is incorrect. Present perfect form i.e. "has demonstrated" is the correct form.

D) Despite its naturally ranging from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, demonstrates
"Naturally ranging..." is weird and should be corrected as follows: "its natural habitat ranging..."

E) Although the natural habitat of Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, ranges from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, the plant has demonstrated
CORRECT ANSWER. The sentence is grammatically correct and conveys its meaning clearly and unambiguously.

Answer is (E)

Posted from my mobile device

Although naturally ranging from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, has demonstrated high levels of adaptability and can sometimes mutate to accommodate a new environment.


A) Although naturally ranging from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, has demonstrated >>> I think it is the correct one.

B) Although its habitat ranges naturally from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, but Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, has demonstrated>>>Although should not be followed by but.

C) Even though it has a natural range from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, had demonstrated>>>past perfect tense is not appropriate in this case.

D) Despite its naturally ranging from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, demonstrates>>> its is redundant here. also present tense is normally used in two cases 1) facts, 2) habits, which is not applicable here.

E) Although the natural habitat of Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, ranges from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, the plant has demonstrated>>> I'm really confused in this option, but to me the plant seems a bit redundant.

A) Although naturally ranging from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, has demonstrated

B) Although its habitat ranges naturally from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, but Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, has demonstrated

C) Even though it has a natural range from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, had demonstrated

D) Despite its naturally ranging from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, demonstrates

E) Although the natural habitat of Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, ranges from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, the plant has demonstrated

E is Much more clear than A and is the best answer in my Opinion.

Although naturally ranging from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, has demonstrated high levels of adaptability and can sometimes mutate to accommodate a new environment.

It is easy to eliminate options B-C-D, picking as GMATNinja says "low hanging fruits"

B) Although its habitat ranges naturally from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, but Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, has demonstrated - "although" and "but" lead to redundancy, only one of them has to be left

C) Even though it has a natural range from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, had demonstrated - use of Past Perfect is not justifiable: there in no other action in the past that happened later or a marker of time such as "by 1980"

D) Despite its naturally ranging from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, demonstrates - Despite should be followed by a noun while "ranging" is a modifier

The real discussion begins between A and E. My choice is E even though I can not properly justify why the option wins.
"naturally ranging" sounds a bit awkward in A while the contrast is presented more logically in E.
A) Although naturally ranging from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, has demonstrated

E) Although the natural habitat of Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, ranges from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, the plant has demonstrated

MEANING
Although the plant's habitat range from X to Y, the plant is very adaptable and can mutate to new environments - such as, outside the range.

A) "although ranging…the plant" imps the plant not its habitat is found in a range, unintended;
B) "although…, but the plant" frag; "ranges naturally" unintended;
C) "natural range" unintended; "it has a range…, the plant" unintended; "had demonstrated" perfect past improper;
D) "its naturally ranging" nonsense; "ranging…, the plant" unintended;

Ans (E)

Quick read-through reveals that the sentence tests meaning, tenses, and modifiers. It is a good practice to understand the simple meaning of the sentence before jumping into the answer choices. The [common] grape vine (also known as VV) grows in many countries / geographies that range from Europe to the Persian shores (Persian mean Iranian). Turns out that this grape vine has demonstrated that it can adapt to various climates and environments.

A) Although naturally ranging from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, has demonstrated
This option looks okay-ish, but I would argue that the meaning does not make much sense. Are we talking about a grape wine that has stretched from Europe to the Persian shores? That is a distance of several thousands of kilometers... Can a plant grow into such gigantic size? Hm... Let's keep (A) for now until we find a better option.

B) Although its habitat ranges naturally from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, but Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, has demonstrated
We cannot have although and but in the same sentence. We must use either although or but to connect two clauses.

C) Even though it has a natural range from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, had demonstrated
Why do we have Past Perfect? There is no time indicator that requires the use of such tense. Pronoun it refers to grape vine correctly.

D) Despite its naturally ranging from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, demonstrates
This is a definitely wrong option. What does Despite its naturally ranging mean really? What does its refer to? Unless the wine was planted in Chernobyl, it is very unlikely that it has grown from Europe all the way to the Persian shores...

E) Although the natural habitat of Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, ranges from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, the plant has demonstrated
This is a perfect option. We have a clause that starts with although and discusses that the natural habitat of VV ranges from Europe to the Persian shores, and another clause that says that the plant has demonstrated adaptability. This is a correct answer choice.

P.S. After writing a reply for this problem I want to get either some grapes or a glass of wine

Although naturally ranging from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grapevine, has demonstrated high levels of adaptability and can sometimes mutate to accommodate a new environment.

Meaning: The common grapevine is known as Vitis vinifera. It's habitat ranges from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea. The plant has, however, demonstrated high levels of adaptability. The plant can mutate to accommodate a new environment. (This makes me start to wonder if the plant will do well in my backyard.)

Option A: Although naturally ranging from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grapevine, has demonstrated high levels of adaptability and can sometimes mutate to accommodate a new environment.
Although is a subordinate conjunction that can be used to show a contrast. So far, all the correct sentences I have seen that correctly use although, although is followed by an object: either a noun or a pronoun. I am not sure if that is a rule of some sort. Option A is incorrect because although naturally ranging from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea is not a clause. Eliminate Option A.

Option B: Although its habitat ranges naturally from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, but Vitis vinifera, the common grapevine, has demonstrated high levels of adaptability and can sometimes mutate to accommodate a new environment.
This sentence does not have a main clause. It is composed of two subordinate clauses. Although is a subordinator, hence the although clause is a dependent clause. Likewise, but is also a subordinate conjunction. To correct this sentence, we need to eliminate one of the subordinators, either although or but from the sentence. On this ground, option B can be eliminated.

Option C: Even though it has a natural range from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grapevine, had demonstrated high levels of adaptability and can sometimes mutate to accommodate a new environment.
The tense sequence doesn't make much sense. On one hand, we have a present perfect tense in the first clause, and on the other hand, we have a past perfect tense. If the grapevine were no longer in existence, then the even though clause should be in the past progressive tense: Even though it was naturally ranging from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea,.... Since the grapefruit still exists, a simple present tense demonstrates rather than had demostrated will correct the error in the second clause. Eliminate option C.

Option D: Despite its naturally ranging from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, demonstrates high levels of adaptability and can sometimes mutate to accommodate a new environment.
Just as in option A, despite its naturally ranging... is not a complete clause. It lacks a working verb. Eliminate option D.

Option E: Although the natural habitat of Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, ranges from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, the plant has demonstrated high levels of adaptability and can sometimes mutate to accommodate a new environment.
This is the correct answer choice. We have two clauses, with the although clause as the subordinate clause. In addition, although is rightly followed by an object, the subject of the first clause the natural habitat. We can clearly see the contrast presented in this sentence with the although clause, which contrasts the information on the adaptability of the plant.

Although naturally ranging from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, has demonstrated high levels of adaptability and can sometimes mutate to accommodate a new environment.

A) Although naturally ranging from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, has demonstrated - Distorts the meaning, how can VV, grape vine, demonstrate high levels of adaptability ???

B) Although its habitat ranges naturally from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, but Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, has demonstrated - Redundancy error, usage of although & but.

C) Even though it has a natural range from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, had demonstrated - Same meaning error as A & usage of Past perfect is nonsensical.

D) Despite its naturally ranging from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, demonstrates - Same meaning error as A

E) Although the natural habitat of Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, ranges from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, the plant has demonstrated - plant demonstrated adaptability makes more sense. seems no error, hold it.

P.S. GMAC usually prefers absolute noun, implied noun, construction immediately after comma.

Imo. E.

Hi generis

Firstly great explanation

I have just one question.

I have read studied somewhere, that in case of "Although X,Y" when both X and Y are used as subject, X and Y should talk about the same thing or refer to the same thing.

However, in the case of "E" The first subject "X" is Natural Habitat and "Y" is The Plant itself.
Could you please put more light on it.
_________________

I agree. GMATNinja - In (E) the two subjects seem to be different. Can you please clarify?

A) Although naturally ranging from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, has demonstrated
E better conveys the meaning therefore out

B) Although its habitat ranges naturally from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, but Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, has demonstrated
but is unnecessary since there is no reason to show contrast therefore out

C) Even though it has a natural range from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, had demonstrated
range gives a meaning as though it has a estimated coverahe these kind of usage is for vechiles or missiles which is not the case therefore out

D) Despite its naturally ranging from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, demonstrates
demonstates isn't the right usage therefore out

E) Although the natural habitat of Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, ranges from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, the plant has demonstrated
The meaning is perfect therefore let us hang on to it

THerefore IMO E