Adjectives ending in '-ed' and '-ing'

Adjectives ending in '-ed' and '-ing'

Do you know the difference between bored and boring? Test what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.

Look at these examples to see how adjectives ending in -ed and -ing are used.

I was really bored in that presentation.
That was a really boring presentation.

Try this exercise to test your grammar.

Grammar test 1

Grammar test 1: Adjectives ending in '-ed' and '-ing'

Read the explanation to learn more.

Grammar explanation

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

-ed adjectives

Adjectives that end in -ed generally describe emotions – they tell us how people feel.

I was so bored in that lesson, I almost fell asleep.
He was surprised to see Helen after all those years.
She was really tired and went to bed early.

-ing adjectives

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

Have you seen that film? It's really frightening.
I could listen to her for hours. She's so interesting.
I can't sleep! That noise is really annoying!

Here are some adjectives that can have both an -ed and an -ing form.

annoyed annoying
bored boring
confused confusing
disappointed disappointing
excited exciting
frightened frightening
interested interesting
surprised surprising
tired tiring
worried worrying

Do this exercise to test your grammar again.

Grammar test 2

Grammar test 2: Adjectives ending in '-ed' and '-ing'

Average: 4.4 (152 votes)
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Submitted by shram98 on Mon, 25/03/2024 - 02:09

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I was tired cuz he's tiring me.

He's bored cuz I'm boring him.

Submitted by soeyuyuaye on Fri, 22/03/2024 - 04:55

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My office had annoyed me. I want to move to another office.

The electricity was cut off. This is disappointing for people.

Our presentation is interesting for the student. 

Submitted by bahoaison on Tue, 20/02/2024 - 15:13

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I was bored with learning English until I found this platform, which is so interesting to study.

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Submitted by luis_grotti on Fri, 16/02/2024 - 01:30

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I was so disappointed with him that I could not even talk to him. His behavior was disappointing.

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Submitted by msuslov84 on Sun, 11/02/2024 - 14:18

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Thanks!
It's a very useful lesson. Before I was often confused by using these endings.

Submitted by Nguyentiep on Tue, 26/12/2023 - 07:52

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Adjectives ending in "-ed" describe emotions of people.
and adjectives ending in "-ing" describe the thing that causes the emotion.

Submitted by Mohamed_Hussien20 on Thu, 23/11/2023 - 10:25

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The New Manager Is So Annoying! He Keeps Asking Us For Big Tasks.
I`m Very Excited About Our New Life Together.
Her New Born Baby Girl Is Annoying She Doesn`t Stop Crying

Submitted by takao ayumi on Thu, 16/11/2023 - 09:05

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I was so exhausted about him, he was going somewhere where I couldn't cover mindlessly.

Submitted by PEKO on Mon, 30/10/2023 - 11:54

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I am excited in the new games on steam.
The computer can't be fixed on tomorrow. It is disappointing!