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