Question

Fill in the blank with the appropriate gerund or infinitive from the options given below:
The baby woke up from his sleep and started _______.

• A. to cry
• B. cried
• C. cry
• D. crying

Answer 1

The correct option is D crying

Gerunds are words that are formed with verbs but act as nouns. Gerunds also at times are seen to end in 'ing'. In this particular sentence, the word should act as a noun thus becoming the subject of the sentence and as a verb by taking up the object. This means that in the blank, we would need a gerund.

Option D: Crying is a gerund as it behaves as a noun as well as a verb in the sentence

Options B: Cried is the past tense of wait

Option A and Option C: Cry is the present tense of the particular verb. It does not act as a noun

Option D is correct