The underlined word in the sentence is a:
From our room in the guest house at Puri, we could hear the roaring waves all night.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Present participle
“Roaring” stands before “waves” and tells us about them: the waves were roaring.
| Option | Form and use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| (1) Gerund | an -ing word used as a noun, as the subject or object of a verb. “Roaring” does not name a thing here | Swimming is good exercise. |
| (2) Infinitive | “to” + the base form of a verb (to hear, to go). “Roaring” is an -ing form with no “to” | We wanted to hear the waves. |
| (3) Present participle (answer) | the -ing form of a verb; it can stand before a noun and describe it, like an adjective | The barking dog woke the whole lane. |
| (4) Finite verb | has a subject and shows the tense. Here the finite verb is “could hear”. “Roaring” has no subject and shows no tense | The waves roared all night. |