-ed vs -ing Adjectives
Level A2 · Adjectives & Adverbs
Many verbs form two related adjectives — one ending in -ed, one in -ing — and they describe completely different things. The -ed adjective describes how someone feels (they experience the emotion); the -ing adjective describes the thing or person that causes that feeling. I am bored (my feeling) because the film is boring (the film causes that feeling) — never the reverse.
Match the ending to what's being described:
- -ed adjectives describe a feeling, and normally describe a person: I am interested in history; She was surprised by the news; He felt bored during the meeting.
- -ing adjectives describe the source of the feeling — a thing, situation, or person that causes it: History is interesting; The news was surprising; The meeting was boring.
- Common pairs: bored/boring, interested/interesting, excited/exciting, tired/tiring, confused/confusing, surprised/surprising, annoyed/annoying, frightened/frightening.
- The same person can occasionally be described both ways with different meanings: a boring person makes others feel bored (the cause); that same person, in a different sentence, could be a bored person (feeling it themselves).
The most common mistake is swapping the two — I am boring (this says you cause boredom in others, not that you feel bored) instead of I am bored (your actual feeling). Or this film is bored (nonsensical — a film can't feel anything) instead of this film is boring (the film causes the feeling). A second frequent error: using -ing for how a person feels — I am confusing means you cause confusion in others; if you mean you don't understand something, it's I am confused.
Ask who or what is doing the causing and who is doing the feeling: the person experiencing an emotion takes -ed (bored, interested, excited). The thing, situation, or person responsible for causing that emotion takes -ing (boring, interesting, exciting) — a film, a book, a lesson, or a person's personality is usually -ing, while a person's reaction is usually -ed.