In which of the following sentences the '-ing' word is used as an adjective ?

Question

Accepted Answer

Option 3 is the correct answer because the '-ing' word "exciting" is used as an adjective in the sentence "He showed us some exciting photographs." In this context, "exciting" describes the noun "photographs," indicating the nature or quality of the photographs. Adjectives are words that modify nouns, providing more information about them, and in this sentence, "exciting" serves this purpose by describing what kind of photographs were shown.

Now, let's examine why the other options are incorrect:

1. In the sentence "The long speech was boring the pupils," the '-ing' word "boring" is used as a part of the verb phrase "was boring," which describes the action being performed by the speech. Here, "boring" is not functioning as an adjective but as a verb, indicating the action of causing boredom.

2. In the sentence "She was standing on the platform whistling," the '-ing' word "whistling" is part of the verb phrase "was whistling," which describes the action being performed by "she." Again, "whistling" is functioning as a verb, not as an adjective.

4. In the sentence "The magician was entertaining the audience," the '-ing' word "entertaining" is part of the verb phrase "was entertaining," which describes the action being performed by the magician. Here, "entertaining" is used as a verb, indicating the action of providing entertainment.

In summary, Option 3 is the correct choice because "exciting" is used as an adjective to describe the noun "photographs," whereas in the other options, the '-ing' words are used as verbs, describing actions rather than modifying nouns.