Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
They sat up all night _____.
A. Talk
B. Talked
C. Talking
D. To be talked

Answer 1

Hint: Verbs have historically been defined as words that explain the state of being or behaviour. By their place in a sentence, verbs may also often be recognized.

Complete answer:
A verb, meaning word, from the Latin verbum, is a word (part of speech) that conveys an action, an event, or a state of being in syntax. The basic form is the infinitive verb in the normal definition of English, with or without the ‘to’ particle. Verbs are inflected in many languages to encode voice, mood, tense and aspect. Verbs of tenses: present, to demonstrate that some event is taking place; past, to suggest that some events are already over; future, to indicate that events will take place.

Verbs differ by form, and the kinds of words that follow them and the relationship of the verb itself with these words decide each type. Three basic forms are usually distinguished, described by the number of arguments for their valence: transitive, intransitive, ditransitive verbs. There are special grammatical uses of certain verbs and therefore complements, such as copular verbs.

Gerunds are words that are formed with verbs but function as nouns. Gerunds even at times are seen to end in 'ing'. The word in the blank functions as a noun in this particular phrase, thus becoming the subject of the phrase and also as a verb by taking up the object. This means we would need a gerund in the blank one. Talking is a gerund as it behaves as a noun in the sentence.

Hence the correct answer is option ‘C’.

Note: Before answering the question, identify the elements of the sentence in which it is written i.e. person, number or gender. This will help you find the answer easily.