Understanding "今それをやっているところだ。"

Question

The sentence

今それをやっているところだ。

apparently translates to

I'm working on it.

Questions:

1. Is 今 functioning as an adverb that modifies the sentence's verb[s], or is it functioning as an adjective that's modifying それ?

2. The phrase "今それをやっている" seems to translate to something like "I am doing today's thing", but what is the "ところだ" tacked onto the end of the sentence doing? I'm assuming だ is the copula? So doesn't that mean this sentence has two verbs (やっている + だ)? How is that possible?

Answer 1

1. 今 modifies the sentence's verb, やっている.

2. ところだ emphasizes やっている. It is used to emphasize the situation that something is really happening and it comes the end of a sentence. It is also correct to say "今それをやっている。" , which translated more like "I am doing it now." Both sentences basically mean the same, but "今それをやっているところだ。" sounds bit stronger. I would imagine a situation like

Mom asked a boy, "Have you done your homework?" Boy says "今それをやっている。" (I am doing it now.)

and a minute later she asked again "Are you doing your homework?", then the boy would say "今それをやっているところだ。" (I am working on it.)

I think it is ところ+だ and this だ is a particle... But not sure of this part as I am a Japanese native and haven't learned Japanese grammar at school.