Adjectives (-ed / -ing)

Many adjectives in English end in -ed or -ing.
These adjectives are often connected to feelings and emotions.
It is very important to understand the difference in meaning.

1. The Core Difference

The most important question is:

Is the person feeling the emotion, or is the thing causing the emotion?

• -ed adjectives → describe how someone feels
• -ing adjectives → describe the person, thing, or situation that causes the feeling

In each pair, the -ed adjective tells us how someone feels, and the -ing adjective tells us what causes the feeling.

2. Using “-ed” Adjectives (Feelings)

We use -ed adjectives to describe emotions or reactions.
Structure:

subject + be/feel + -ed adjective

Examples:

• “I am tired.”
• “She was bored.”
• “They feel excited.”

Why?
The person experiences the feeling.

3. Using “-ing” Adjectives (Cause)

We use -ing adjectives to describe the thing or situation that creates the feeling.
Structure:

subject + be + -ing adjective

Examples:

• “The movie was boring.”
• “The lesson is interesting.”
• “The trip was exciting.”

Why?
The thing causes the emotion.

4. Compare the Difference (Very Important)

The adjective changes the meaning.

Examples:

• “I am bored.”
  • This is my feeling.
• “The movie is boring.”
  • The movie causes boredom.
• “She is interested in art.”
  • This is her feeling.
• “Art is interesting.”
  • Art causes interest.
• “We were surprised.”
  • This is our reaction.
• “The news was surprising.”
  • The news caused surprise.

5. Common -ed / -ing Adjective Pairs

Feeling (-ed)	Cause (-ing)
bored	boring
interested	interesting
excited	exciting
tired	tiring
surprised	surprising
confused	confusing
frightened	frightening
amazed	amazing
annoyed	annoying
disappointed	disappointing

6. Common Structures

This section summarizes the most common sentence patterns you will see with -ed/-ing adjectives, plus two frequent prepositions.

6.1 Be/feel + -ed adjective

Examples:

• “I was disappointed.”
• “She is confused.”

6.2 Be + -ing adjective

Examples:

• “The game was exciting.”
• “This book is interesting.”

6.3 Adjective + preposition patterns

Some adjectives are often followed by prepositions.

• interested in + noun/gerund
  • “I am interested in science.”
• excited about + noun/gerund
  • “She is excited about the trip.”

7. Easy Way to Remember

Think:

• -ed → how people feel
• -ing → what causes the feeling

Use -ed adjectives for feelings and -ing adjectives for the person, thing, or situation that causes the feeling.