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: 4.5 (188 votes)

Hello Rissa,

I'm not aware of any such list. In fact, I can think of many adjectives which are neither -ing or -ed, but very few adjectives which only occur in one form, such as hardworking. There are also examples where the -ing form is not an adjective at all, such as misunderstanding, and the adjectival form is a past participle (misunderstood - an irregular form rather than the regular -ed).

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Ayuloraine sit… on Mon, 16/11/2020 - 03:26

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so i was wonder about that end in "ed and "ing. is the adjective only for past?

Hello Ayuloraine sitanggang,

No, you can use these adjectives to speak about any time. It's usually the verb that indicates the time -- for example:

She was worried.
She will be worried.
She is worried.

Does that make sense?

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Khin Khin Htet on Mon, 09/11/2020 - 15:22

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After I read and practice, I was clear this pattern. BC's grammar explanation is really easy to understand for learners !

Submitted by Shakeel on Wed, 28/10/2020 - 11:49

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The lesson was very short but interested.

Submitted by June Pann Phyu on Sun, 25/10/2020 - 02:11

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I am really confused about this pattern before this time but now I am sure clear. Thanks a lot BC.

Submitted by Moon Wathan on Thu, 22/10/2020 - 15:32

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I think lessons are short. I suggest to have many lessons in here because we need to do more to understand this topic.

Submitted by Nurieta on Tue, 13/10/2020 - 10:40

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I think lesson was short and very interesting!

Submitted by Wai Myo Aung on Tue, 13/10/2020 - 05:57

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I was interested in this lesson as it wasn't boring