Question

Look at that old man ____ to cross the road.
(Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word)
a)Trying
b)Tries
c)To try
d)Tried

Answer 1

Hint: Read the given sentence and understand what it means. Point out in which tense it is. Now, go through the options and choose the one which agrees with the tense of the sentence. Make sure that the sentence formed is grammatically sound.

Complete answer: In the given question, we have to fill in the blank with the correct tense form of the word ‘try'. In this particular sentence, the word in the blank acts as a noun thus becoming the subject of the sentence and also like a verb by taking up the object. This means that in the blank, we would need a gerund.
‘Try’ is a verb which means to make an attempt or effort to do something. The given sentence is in the present continuous tense, as the speaker is pointing out the man who is crossing the road at that moment.
Option ‘a’ – this is the correct option because ‘trying’ is a gerund and it plays multiple roles in a sentence. It will fill in the given blank perfectly.
Option ‘b’ – it is not the correct option because it is the third person present tense.
Option ‘c’ – it is also an incorrect option as it is in the present tense and not in the present continuous tense.
Option ‘d’ – it is in the past tense and cannot be used in a particular sentence.
Hence, the option ‘a’ is the correct option. The complete sentence would be – Look at that old man trying to cross the road.

Note: One way to spot a gerund is to notice that they always end in -ing. Just remember they’re not the only players in the game ending in -ing. Present participles (verbs indicating continuous activity) also end in -ing.