Virtuous English Academy-ed and -ing Adjectives in English (A2)
- #A2
- #Grammar
- #Rules
- #Examples
-ed adjectives describe how a person feels (I am bored); -ing adjectives describe the thing that causes the feeling (the film is boring). This lesson fixes the single most embarrassing mix-up in A2 English.
Hundreds of English adjectives come in pairs built from the same verb: bored and boring, interested and interesting, tired and tiring, surprised and surprising. The two forms are not interchangeable, and choosing the wrong one does not produce a small mistake — it reverses the meaning. A learner who says I am very boring in class has told the room they are dull company, when they meant they were not enjoying the lesson.
The rule underneath is one sentence long. The -ed form describes the person who HAS the feeling; the -ing form describes whatever CAUSES it. Because things and events do not have feelings, they almost always take -ing: a long film is boring, a difficult exam is tiring, an unexpected result is surprising. Because people usually receive feelings, they usually take -ed: you are bored by the film, tired after the exam, surprised by the result.
The complication, and the reason this topic is worth its own lesson, is that people can take either form — and then the meaning is exactly the one the grammar predicts. He is interested means he wants to know more; he is interesting means other people want to know more about him. Once you can hear that difference in a sentence about a person, the whole pattern is secure.
How to form -ed & -ing Adjectives
| Verb | -ed (the feeling) | -ing (the cause) | Example pair |
|---|---|---|---|
| bore | bored | boring | I was bored. The talk was boring. |
| interest | interested | interesting | She's interested. The book is interesting. |
| tire | tired | tiring | We're tired. The journey was tiring. |
| surprise | surprised | surprising | He looked surprised. The news was surprising. |
| excite | excited | exciting | The fans were excited. The match was exciting. |
| confuse | confused | confusing | I'm confused. The instructions are confusing. |
| annoy | annoyed | annoying | She got annoyed. The noise was annoying. |
| relax | relaxed | relaxing | I feel relaxed. The music is relaxing. |
-ed & -ing Adjectives: the key rules
-
-ed adjectives describe the feeling a person has.
I was bored during the lecture.
-
-ing adjectives describe the thing or person that causes the feeling.
The lecture was boring.
-
Things are almost always -ing; people can be either, depending on the meaning.
He is interested in art. He is an interesting man.
-
The pair works for most emotion verbs: tire, surprise, excite, confuse, annoy, relax, frighten.
The news was surprising, so we were surprised.
When to use -ed & -ing Adjectives
-
Saying how you feel
The -ed form, usually after be, feel or get, and often followed by by or with.
I was disappointed with the hotel.
-
Describing a thing or an experience
The -ing form, because objects, films, jobs and journeys cause feelings rather than having them.
It was the most frightening film I've seen.
-
Describing a person's effect on others
The -ing form applied to a person — correct, and often complimentary.
Our new teacher is fascinating.
-
Explaining a reaction
The two forms in one sentence, which is how the contrast is usually taught and tested.
The lesson was confusing, so everyone left confused.
I'm bored vs. I'm boring
Both sentences are grammatical, which is precisely the problem — nothing corrects you, and the listener simply believes what you said. Read the pair until the difference is instant.
I'm bored — you have the feeling
Something outside you has caused it, and it will pass when the situation changes.
I'm bored. Shall we do something else?
I'm boring — you cause the feeling
A statement about your personality, and rarely one you want to make.
I'm boring. Nobody ever invites me anywhere.
-ed & -ing Adjectives in example sentences
- The three-hour wait was extremely tiring.The wait causes the tiredness, so -ing.
- By the end we were all completely tired.We receive it, so -ed.
- Are you interested in the job?-ed with in — the standard preposition for this adjective.
- It's an interesting job.The job causes the interest.
- I was shocked by the price.-ed adjectives often take by for the cause.
- The price was shocking.The same idea from the other direction.
- She gave a very convincing answer.-ing works before a noun as well as after be.
- He seemed embarrassed about the mistake.-ed after seem, look, feel and get, not only after be.
-ed & -ing Adjectives in a real conversation
Every adjective below is from a pair. Decide who has the feeling and what caused it before you read the note.
Marta:How was the conference? You look exhausted.
Jonas:It was exhausting. Nine hours of talks.
Marta:Was anything interesting?
Jonas:One session. The rest was so boring I nearly fell asleep.
Marta:I'm surprised. The programme looked exciting.
Jonas:The programme was misleading. I'm just relieved it's over.
Common mistakes (and how to fix them)
-
I am very boring in this class.
I am very bored in this class.
Boring says you make other people bored — the opposite of what the speaker means.
-
The film was very excited.
The film was very exciting.
A film has no feelings; it causes them, so it takes the -ing form.
-
We were confusing by the timetable.
We were confused by the timetable.
The people receiving the feeling take -ed; the timetable that caused it would be confusing.
Practise -ed & -ing Adjectives today
This topic is learned by producing pairs, not by recognising them, so every step asks you to write both halves.
- Take eight verbs from the table and write one -ed sentence and one -ing sentence for each.
- Describe last weekend in five sentences, using at least three adjectives from a pair.
- Correct these: The lesson was very bored. — I am interesting in history. — We were exciting about the trip.
- Write four sentences of the form The … was …ing, so I was …ed.
-ed & -ing Adjectives: frequently asked questions
Can a person ever be described with -ing?
Yes, and it is completely correct — it simply says something different. He is annoying means he causes annoyance in other people; he is annoyed means somebody has annoyed him. The same goes for interesting, boring, tiring, frightening and confusing. Compliments in English very often use the -ing form about a person, as in she's an inspiring teacher, so avoiding it altogether costs you a lot of natural expression.
Which preposition follows the -ed adjective?
There is no single rule, so learn the commonest as fixed phrases: interested IN, worried ABOUT, excited ABOUT, bored WITH or BY, surprised BY or AT, disappointed WITH, annoyed WITH a person but annoyed ABOUT a thing, frightened OF. By is the general one for naming the cause — shocked by the news — and works when nothing more specific comes to mind.
Are these really adjectives, or are they verb forms?
Historically they are participles, and that is why they carry verb meaning. In modern English they behave as ordinary adjectives: they follow be, seem and look, they take very and extremely, and they go before a noun. That test is useful — you can say very bored and very boring, which you cannot do with a plain verb form, so treating them as adjectives is both simpler and accurate.
Does the rule work for every verb?
It works for verbs that describe causing a feeling, which is a large group — bore, interest, tire, excite, surprise, shock, amuse, annoy, confuse, disappoint, embarrass, frighten, relax, satisfy, worry. It does not apply to ordinary action verbs: a broken window and a breaking window are not a feeling pair. If the verb cannot complete the sentence It …s me, it is not in this group.