Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.

Miss Benson was looking forward to ____ the title role in the new play.

• A. play
• B. playing
• C. to be played
• D. played
• E. being played

Answer 1

The correct option is B playing

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 A: Play is in the present tense. It is the wrong option

Option B: Playing is a gerund as it behaves as a noun in the sentence

Option C, D and E: Played is the past tense again. It is the wrong option

Option B is correct