Question

Choose the correct adjective from the options given.
After a _____ week at work, Mrs. Batra enjoys a relaxing weekend with her family.
A) Stress
B) Stressed
C) Stressing
D) Stressful

Answer 1

Hint: The root word of the words given in the options is ‘stress’. By adding certain suffixes we can change the word ‘stress’ from its noun or verb form to adjectives or adverbs. For e.g. ‘cheer’ is a verb that can be turned into ‘cheerful’ which is an adjective, by adding the suffix ‘-ful’.

Complete answer:
 In the given sentence we have a blank just before the word ‘week’. Therefore, we can say that the word in the blank would most probably be describing the word ‘week’. ‘Week’ is a noun, therefore, the describing word for the noun would be an adjective.

Now let us look into the explanation of the given options:
Option A) Stress – ‘Stress’ is a word that can be used as a noun as well as a verb. For e.g. Don’t stress yourself out. (verb); I couldn’t handle the stress, so I had to quit the job. (noun). But we need to fill the blank with an adjective. Therefore, this option is incorrect.
Option B) Stressed – This word is used as an adjective, as well as the past tense of the verb ‘stress’. The adjective form of ‘stressed’ refers to something that has been put under stress or pressure. For e.g. She was stressed from all the work that was pending. This is not the form of an adjective that can be used to fill the blank given in the question. Thus, this option is incorrect.
Option C) Stressing – This is the present participle of the verb ‘stress’ and is used to write a sentence in the present continuous tense. For e.g. Boy, you are stressing me out. This is also not an adjective. Hence, this option is incorrect.
Option D) Stressful – This is an adjective form of the word ‘stress’. It refers to something that causes stress. For e.g. It was a really stressful task. This is the correct adjective, as it tells us that the ‘week’ was causing stress to Mrs Batra. Thus, it is the correct option.

Thus, the correct answer is Option (D) i.e, After a stressful week, Mrs Batra enjoys a relaxing weekend with her family.

Note:
- Some synonyms of the words ‘stress, stressful, stressed’ are; demanding, frustrating, difficult, exhausting etc. Some antonyms for the same are; relaxing, easy, de-stress, etc.
- The word ‘stress’ also has another meaning in English grammar. It refers to the act of emphasising or giving particular importance to certain syllables of a word or certain figures of speech, which the speaker wants his/her listener to focus on.