Adjectives that end ‘-ed’ (e.g. ‘bored’, ‘interested’) and adjectives that end ‘-ing’ (e.g. ‘boring’, ‘interesting’) are often confused.

 

-ed adjectives

Adjectives that end ‘-ed’ describe emotions – they tell us how people feel about something.

 

- I was very bored in the maths lesson. I almost fell asleep.

- He was surprised to see Helen. She’d told him she was going to Australia

- Feeling tired and depressed, he went to bed

 

-ing adjectives

Adjectives that end ‘-ing’ describe the thing that causes the emotion – a boring lesson makes you feel bored.

 

- Have you seen that film? It’s absolutely terrifying

- I could listen to him for hours. He’s one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met

- I can’t eat this! It’s disgusting! What is it?

Remember that people can be boring but only if they make other people feel bored.

- He talks about the weather for hours. He’s so boring

- NOT I was very boring at the party so I went home.

 

Here are some more adjectives that can have both an ‘-ed’ and an ‘-ing’ form

 

amused, amusing      
annoyed, annoying

confused, confusing

disappointed,disappointing

excited, exciting

exhausted,exhausting

frightened,frightening

satisfied,satisfying

shocked, shocking

 

You can find a more complete list clicking on this link:

http://www.curso-ingles.com/gramatica-inglesa/adjectives_ed_ing.php

 

ACTIVITIES:

 

http://www.better-english.com/grammar/adjing.htm

http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=2255

http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-5148.php