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
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
Thank you , This lesson made me feel exciting.
The lesson made me feel excited.
The lessons here are never disappointing.
Thank you so much!
good feedback after the article,thank!
The interesting lesson makes me feel interested in studying english
Many thanks, it was a really interesting lessons; I have been always confused with these adjectives.
An exciting explanation in order to not be worried about this part of grammar
Thx
Thank you for explanation ending ed -ind adjectives and exercise ,task
it's great lesson.
Hello Learn English team,
Let get this example The man ......... of robbery and murder was finally acquitted of all the charges.
There are (accused) and (accusing).
Get one step backward, the word (accused) was in origin (the man who was accused), and the word (accusing) was in origin (the man who was accusing) or (the man who accuses), then if these adj. clauses are reduced, the connector (who) and the verb (was) were omitted.
The man did not accuse anyone, but he was accused. So I choose the word (accused), but according to the answer key of my book its (accusing).
I prepare to my exam after few days, and the reducing adj. clauses confused me a lot. Is there any method how to get correct answer?
Hello masri.ahm04,
The correct answer is 'accused' here, not 'accusing', and your reasoning is correct.
I can't say why your book has the wrong answer in its key. Perhaps it is a misprint or perhaps the question was changed during editing and the key was not, but I can confirm your answer and analysis.
As far as the more general topic goes, I think your analysis of this sentence shows you have a good understanding of the area. Here are some links which might help you:
defining relative clauses
participle clauses
reducing relative clauses (from the BBC)
reducing non-identifying relative clauses (from Cambridge)
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team