Last visit was: 05 May 2026, 09:33 It is currently 05 May 2026, 09:33
Home
Messages
Tests
Schools
Events
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
Back to Forum
Create Topic
avatar
gmatprep2090
avatar
Joined: 10 Mar 2019
Last visit: 18 Mar 2019
Posts: 2
Own Kudos:
9
 [4]
Status:Manager
Location: Canada
GPA: 3.8
Posts: 2
Kudos: 9
 [4]
The ancient Iberians were mostly agrarian, but complementing Updated on: 21 Mar 2019, 21:32
Originally posted by gmatprep2090 on 10 Mar 2019, 07:51.
Last edited by Bunuel on 21 Mar 2019, 21:32, edited 2 times in total.
Kudos
Add Kudos
4
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
00:00
Start Timer
Pause Timer
Resume Timer
Show Answer
Hide
Show
History
D
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!

Difficulty:

15% (low)

Question Stats:

75% (00:49) correct 25% (00:52) wrong based on 290 sessions

History

Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
The ancient Iberians were mostly agrarian, but complementing their production of wheat and barley with raids and piracy.

A) but complementing
B) and had complemented
C) and even though they complemented
D) although they complemented
E) but with complementing
ShowHide Answer
Official Answer
D
User avatar
GKomoku
User avatar
Joined: 06 Mar 2018
Last visit: 23 Mar 2022
Posts: 301
Own Kudos:
957
 [1]
Given Kudos: 3,681
Status:To infinity and beyond
Location: Kazakhstan
Concentration: Technology, Finance
Schools: Stanford '23 Sloan '23
GPA: 3.87
Schools: Stanford '23 Sloan '23
Posts: 301
Kudos: 957
 [1]
The ancient Iberians were mostly agrarian, but complementing 10 Mar 2019, 08:07
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Dear Experts,

Could you pease help to clarify why D is the answer?
Why there is no comma between IC and DC?
It seems there is not much difference between C and D
Also I could not see any subtle difference between A and E...

Thank you in advance for your time and reply
User avatar
GKomoku
User avatar
Joined: 06 Mar 2018
Last visit: 23 Mar 2022
Posts: 301
Own Kudos:
957
Given Kudos: 3,681
Status:To infinity and beyond
Location: Kazakhstan
Concentration: Technology, Finance
Schools: Stanford '23 Sloan '23
GPA: 3.87
Schools: Stanford '23 Sloan '23
Posts: 301
Kudos: 957
The ancient Iberians were mostly agrarian, but complementing 10 Mar 2019, 08:10
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
gmatprep2090
The ancient Iberians were mostly agrarian but complementing their production of wheat and barley with raids and piracy.

A) but complementing
B) and had complemented
c) even though they complemented
D) although they complemented
E) but with complementing
Show more

hello gmatprep2090

could you please advise what is the source of this question?
User avatar
MahmoudFawzy
User avatar
Joined: 27 Oct 2018
Last visit: 20 Feb 2021
Posts: 660
Own Kudos:
2,177
 [1]
Given Kudos: 200
Status:Manager
Location: Egypt
Concentration: Strategy, International Business
Schools: NTU '20 HKUST '21 Japan MBA
GPA: 3.67
WE:Pharmaceuticals (Healthcare/Pharmaceuticals)
Schools: NTU '20 HKUST '21 Japan MBA
Posts: 660
Kudos: 2,177
 [1]
The ancient Iberians were mostly agrarian, but complementing 10 Mar 2019, 16:10
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
it reminds me of this question:
https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-iroquois-were-primarily-planters-but-supplementing-their-cultivat-32790.html.

There is no remarkable difference between "Although" and "Even though" to say that C is incorrect.
avatar
gmatprep2090
avatar
Joined: 10 Mar 2019
Last visit: 18 Mar 2019
Posts: 2
Own Kudos:
9
Status:Manager
Location: Canada
GPA: 3.8
Posts: 2
Kudos: 9
The ancient Iberians were mostly agrarian, but complementing 10 Mar 2019, 23:44
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
There were some typing mistake on this question i edited it ..
avatar
jaisrajat
avatar
Joined: 23 Mar 2018
Last visit: 14 Aug 2020
Posts: 7
Own Kudos:
7
Given Kudos: 25
Posts: 7
Kudos: 7
The ancient Iberians were mostly agrarian, but complementing 21 Mar 2019, 17:45
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
can anyone explain why option A is incorrect
Thanks in advance.
User avatar
AjiteshArun
User avatar
Major Poster
Joined: 15 Jul 2015
Last visit: 05 May 2026
Posts: 6,090
Own Kudos:
5,142
 [2]
Given Kudos: 742
Location: India
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Posts: 6,090
Kudos: 5,142
 [2]
The ancient Iberians were mostly agrarian, but complementing 21 Mar 2019, 18:53
2
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
jaisrajat
can anyone explain why option A is incorrect
Thanks in advance.
Show more
Option A leads to the following sentence:

The ancient Iberians were mostly agrarian but complementing their production...

In this sentence, the word but should join similar elements (parallelism), but it doesn't, as were is a verb but complementing is not. The verb form (simple past tense) of complement is complemented, so if we had to remove the parallelism error that option A has, we'd get something like this:

The ancient Iberians were mostly agrarian but complemented their production...

Also, you might want to take a look at the official question that this question is based on.
User avatar
generis
User avatar
Senior SC Moderator
Joined: 22 May 2016
Last visit: 18 Jun 2022
Posts: 5,258
Own Kudos:
37,755
 [2]
Given Kudos: 9,464
Expert
Expert reply
Posts: 5,258
Kudos: 37,755
 [2]
The ancient Iberians were mostly agrarian, but complementing 21 Mar 2019, 19:47
2
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
gmatprep2090
The ancient Iberians were mostly agrarian, but complementing their production of wheat and barley with raids and piracy.

A) but complementing
B) and had complemented
C) and even though they complemented
D) although they complemented
E) but with complementing
Show more
Meaning: The ancient Iberians were mostly farmers. They augmented their crop production with raids [on enemies to steal valuable items] and piracy.
Quote:
A) The ancient Iberians were mostly agrarian, but complementing their production of wheat and barley with raids and piracy.
Show more
• incomplete sentence: the words after COMMA + BUT must be an independent clause with a subject and working verb
Because there is a comma before but, the second half of the sentence must be a full clause.
-- BUT is a coordinating conjunction (a FANBOY).
-- If a coordinating conjunction has a comma before it, and one side is an independent clause,
then the other side must also be an independent clause.*
-- The present participle (the verbING) complementing is not a working verb.

Quote:
B) The ancient Iberians were mostly agrarian, and they had complemented their production of wheat and barley with raids and piracy.
Show more
• The second part of the sentence requires a subject, they, because and is preceded by a comma.
(See notes on option A.)
• The past perfect construction had complemented is incorrect.
-- Past perfect should be used only when needed. It is constructed this way:
had/have + past participle
-- Past perfect is called the "past of the past," used to show that one event happened before another.
-- Raiding and piracy did not happen before farming. The people farmed, raided, and conducted piracy at the same time.

Quote:
C) The ancient Iberians were mostly agrarian, and even though they complemented their production of wheat and barley with raids and piracy.
Show more
• The second half of the sentence is incomplete because the subordinating conjunction even though
is preceded by a COMMA + AND
• The following is not a complete sentence: Even though they complemented their production of X and Y with A and B.

Quote:
D) The ancient Iberians were mostly agrarian, although they complemented their production of wheat and barley with raids and piracy.
Show more
• Correct. Unlike Option C (even though), another subordinating conjunction, although, correctly is not preceded by the word and.
Subordinate clauses are not complete sentences and cannot be joined with COMMA + AND.

Quote:
E) The ancient Iberians were mostly agrarian, but with complementing their production of wheat and barley with raids and piracy.
Show more
• "but with complementing" is a hot mess.
-- Just as in options A and B, the second half of the sentence is not an independent clause.
The second half lacks a subject, they.
-- complementing is not a working verb
-- "with complementing" is nonsensical. We can have "by complementing" or "with complements OF,"
though those phrases would not fix the lack of a subject and working verb.

The correct answer is D.


*Note: if a coordinating conjunction is used with a dependent clause and an independent clause, no comma is used.
Correct: They wanted to travel to Europe but could not get away from work at the same time. [There is no subject in the second part of the sentence, so
"but they could not get away from work at the same time is not a full or independent clause." In such cases, no comma is used.]
This site explains coordinating conjunctions and their punctuation.
User avatar
GKomoku
User avatar
Joined: 06 Mar 2018
Last visit: 23 Mar 2022
Posts: 301
Own Kudos:
957
Given Kudos: 3,681
Status:To infinity and beyond
Location: Kazakhstan
Concentration: Technology, Finance
Schools: Stanford '23 Sloan '23
GPA: 3.87
Schools: Stanford '23 Sloan '23
Posts: 301
Kudos: 957
The ancient Iberians were mostly agrarian, but complementing 23 Mar 2019, 07:03
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
generis
gmatprep2090
The ancient Iberians were mostly agrarian, but complementing their production of wheat and barley with raids and piracy.

A) but complementing
B) and had complemented
C) and even though they complemented
D) although they complemented
E) but with complementing
Meaning: The ancient Iberians were mostly farmers. They augmented their crop production with raids [on enemies to steal valuable items] and piracy.
Quote:
A) The ancient Iberians were mostly agrarian, but complementing their production of wheat and barley with raids and piracy.
• incomplete sentence: the words after COMMA + BUT must be an independent clause with a subject and working verb
Because there is a comma before but, the second half of the sentence must be a full clause.
-- BUT is a coordinating conjunction (a FANBOY).
-- If a coordinating conjunction has a comma before it, and one side is an independent clause,
then the other side must also be an independent clause.*
-- The present participle (the verbING) complementing is not a working verb.

Quote:
B) The ancient Iberians were mostly agrarian, and they had complemented their production of wheat and barley with raids and piracy.
• The second part of the sentence requires a subject, they, because and is preceded by a comma.
(See notes on option A.)
• The past perfect construction had complemented is incorrect.
-- Past perfect should be used only when needed. It is constructed this way:
had/have + past participle
-- Past perfect is called the "past of the past," used to show that one event happened before another.
-- Raiding and piracy did not happen before farming. The people farmed, raided, and conducted piracy at the same time.

Quote:
C) The ancient Iberians were mostly agrarian, and even though they complemented their production of wheat and barley with raids and piracy.
• The second half of the sentence is incomplete because the subordinating conjunction even though
is preceded by a COMMA + AND
• The following is not a complete sentence: Even though they complemented their production of X and Y with A and B.

Quote:
D) The ancient Iberians were mostly agrarian, although they complemented their production of wheat and barley with raids and piracy.
• Correct. Unlike Option C (even though), another subordinating conjunction, although, correctly is not preceded by the word and.
Subordinate clauses are not complete sentences and cannot be joined with COMMA + AND.

Quote:
E) The ancient Iberians were mostly agrarian, but with complementing their production of wheat and barley with raids and piracy.
• "but with complementing" is a hot mess.
-- Just as in options A and B, the second half of the sentence is not an independent clause.
The second half lacks a subject, they.
-- complementing is not a working verb
-- "with complementing" is nonsensical. We can have "by complementing" or "with complements OF,"
though those phrases would not fix the lack of a subject and working verb.

The correct answer is D.


*Note: if a coordinating conjunction is used with a dependent clause and an independent clause, no comma is used.
Correct: They wanted to travel to Europe but could not get away from work at the same time. [There is no subject in the second part of the sentence, so
"but they could not get away from work at the same time is not a full or independent clause." In such cases, no comma is used.]
This site explains coordinating conjunctions and their punctuation.
Show more

generis

brilliant!
User avatar
VerbalBot
User avatar
Non-Human User
Joined: 01 Oct 2013
Last visit: 04 Jan 2021
Posts: 19,425
Own Kudos:
1,011
Posts: 19,425
Kudos: 1,011
The ancient Iberians were mostly agrarian, but complementing 13 Jan 2022, 07:22
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot:

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

This post was generated automatically.
Moderators:
GMATNinja
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
7391 posts
AbhishekP220108
526 posts
bhanu29
363 posts