Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
Let’s not waste time ____ about this.
a) argue
b) arguing
c) having argued
d) to having argued

Answer 1

Hint: A verb is a content word that denotes an action, occurrence, or state of existence. A verb is the word class that serves as the predicate of a sentence.

Complete solution:

In the given question, we have to find out which of the options indicates that the speaker does not want to waste time in the present by the action of arguing, i.e., the speaker wants to stop the current ongoing action of arguing.

Thus, the correct answer will be in the present continuous tense as this is the tense that describes an ongoing action in the present. In English, it is formed by the use of a form of be with a present participle.

Let us thus analyze the options given to us in this question-

Option (a.), 'argue', refers to simple present tense. Therefore, option (a.) is incorrect.

Option (b.), ‘arguing', refers to present continuous tense. Therefore, option (b.) is correct.

Option (c.), ‘having argued', refers to present perfect tense. Therefore, option (c.) is incorrect.

Option (d.), ‘to having argued', refers to present perfect tense with a preposition ‘to’. Therefore, option (d.) is incorrect.

Hence, the correct answer is option ‘b’.

Note: In this question, it will be helpful for the student to recall the concept of tense. Tense is a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time. There are three tenses- past, present, and future.