I found my watch

[dcomest]

I found my watch _______.
*
1) missing** 2) to miss 3) missed 4) disappearing 5) disappeared
*
Which one should be the right answer? The answer sheet says that the correct answer is "missing," but why not "disappearing"?

Then why and why not?

Is this question related to the differences between past participles and adjectives?

Does the sentence "I found my watch missing." sound right to native speakers?

One more...

a) The man looked killed. (X)
b) We found the man killed (O)

Sentence a) sounds a little bit awkward, but when the proper context is given, can it be a possible and meaningful sentence? What the heck is "adjectival past participle"?

Thanks in advance!

Jay from ROK

[mykwyner]

The sentence is "I found (discovered) my watch [to be] missing. The copula (to be) can be deleted without affecting the clarity of the meaning.

An adjectival past participle is a past participle (usually the ..ed or ..en form of a verb) that acts like an adjective (it describes a noun).

The game was finished.

The paper was written.

The house is painted.

[Casiopea]

Additionally,

I found my watch _______.

1) missing 2) to miss 3) missed 4) disappearing 5) disappeared

Is this question related to the differences between past participles and adjectives?

Yes, and no. The task is to fill in the blank with an object complement:

I found my watch missing.
=> it wasn't where I usually put it

I found my watch disappearing [before my eyes].
=> it was fading from my sight

I found my watch (had) disappeared [when the magician opened the box].
I found my watch to miss . . . . (ungrammatical)

Does the sentence "I found my watch missing" sound right to native speakers?

Yes. Look at it this way: with object complements you can insert the verb BE, like this,

I found my watch missing = my watch is/was missing.

One more...

a) The man looked killed. (X)
b) We found the man killed (O)

Sentence a) sounds a little bit awkward, but when the proper context is given, can it be a possible and meaningful sentence? What the heck is "adjectival past participle"?

Well, sentence a) is ungrammatical, no matter the context. 'looked' functions as a linking verb in that context, so we're looking for an adjective, not a part of a verb. That is, 'killed' cannot function as an adjective. It's part of a verb,

Passive: c) The man looked as if he had been killed (by . . .).
Passive: b) We found the man killed = The man was killed (by . . .).

As for c), try active voice: the man looked dead. 'dead' functions as an adjective:

d) The man looked dead = he is/was dead.

Hope that helps.