Which of these sentences contains a present participle verbal functioning as an adjective?
to leave now would be inconvenient.
however, we do have a long way to go.
leaving now would get us there early.
nodding, mom said she would rather be early than late.

The correct answer is - Nodding, Mom said she would rather be early than late.

Explanation:

Present participle verbal looks like a regular verb + -ing (singing, dancing, sleeping, etc) and has the function of either adjectives or adverbs within a sentence.

If you're unsure about the correct answer, let's use the system of elimination:

A is incorrect because there is no participle here at all. There is a verbal to leave, but it is an infinitive, not a participle.

B is incorrect because, again, there is no participle here, only infinitive to go.

C is also incorrect because, even though there is a verb + -ing form in the sentence (the word leaving), it is not a participle, but rather a gerund (gerunds are used as nouns).

Therefore, the only correct option would be sentence D, where the present participle nodding is used as an adjective to describe Mom.

it would be difficult because of they way the stanzas react to the lines in the essay

Explanation: