Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.

In winter, he spends much time in the mountains; he is fond of _________.

• A. to skate
• B. skated
• C. skating
• D. to be skated
• E. having skated

Answer 1

The correct option is C skating

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 in the blank acts 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.

Option C: "Skating" is a gerund as it behaves as a noun as well as a verb in the sentence

Option A: "To skate" is in the present tense.

Option B: "Skated" is in the past tense. Same goes for option E and Option D

Option C is correct.