Grammar Topic 10 - Adjectives that End with -ed and -ing

Grammar – Topic 10

Adjectives that end with -ed and -ing

The roller coaster ride is exciting

The people on the roller coaster are excited.

You’ve probably used the words ‘excited’ and ‘exciting’ before. Have you ever got confused using them? If you haven’t, that’s great! Have a quick read of how these words are used. You might want to use the words in the tables to make your writing more interesting. Then scroll down to try the exercise below.

If you aren’t so sure about when to use ‘excited’ and ‘exciting’ and many other similar word pairs like ‘interested’ and ‘interesting’ or ‘bored’ and ‘boring’, then read on to find out how to use them correctly.

All these pairs of words are descriptive adjectives. They tell us more about nouns.

Some of the descriptive adjectives you might be more familiar with tell you about what things or people look like, the colour and the size such as  ‘scary’, ‘green’ and ‘big’.

The scary big green goblin just ate up my homework.

What if we say,

The scary big green goblin made me feel frightened.

‘Frightened’ is also an adjective. It describes your feelings about the goblin.

Adjectives that end with –ed are used to describe how you feel.

Here is a list of adjectives you can use to describe your feelings.

alarmed	confused	embarrassed	inspired	shocked
amused	convinced	encouraged	insulted	surprised
annoyed	depressed	entertained	interested	tempted
astonished	disappointed	excited	moved	terrified
astounded	discouraged	exhausted	overwhelmed	threatened
bored	disgusted	fascinated	perplexed	thrilled
captivated	distressed	frightened	relaxed	tired
comforted	disturbed	frustrated	satisfied	touched

What about adjectives that describe things?

Comedies are entertaining to watch but documentaries are boring.

‘Entertaining’ is an adjective that describes comedies.

‘Boring’ is an adjective that describes documentaries.

Adjectives that we use to describe events end with –ing.

Here is a list of adjectives you can use to describe events.

alarming	confusing	embarrassing	inspiring	shocking
amusing	convincing	encouraging	insulting	surprising
annoying	depressing	entertaining	interesting	tempting
astonishing	disappointing	exciting	moving	terrifying
astounding	discouraging	exhausting	overwhelming	threatening
boring	disgusting	fascinating	perplexing	thrilling
captivating	distressing	frightening	relaxing	tiring
comforting	disturbing	frustrating	satisfying	touching

Remember, that it is not wrong to say that someone is boring. But you should only say that when you do mean that the person makes others feel bored.

Mr Peterson is such a boring English teacher that his students find it hard to keep awake.

What about these sentences?

My younger brother is certainly entertaining. He makes us all laugh with his antics.

That girl is disgusting. She neither bathes nor changes her clothes.

The younger brother makes others laugh, so he is entertaining. People are entertained by him.

That girl is disgusting because she is unhygienic. People are disgusted by her.

Let’s Practice

Circle the correct words.

1. Jack was (disappointed / disappointing) at the results of the tennis match.

2. The tourists had a (relaxed / relaxing) time at the beach resort.

3. ‘What a (bored / boring) show!” Peter exclaimed.

4. I was (exhausted / exhausting) after my swimming training.

5. The audience was (captivated / captivating) by the Australian choir performance.

6. The fishermen came upon the (shocked / shocking) sight of a dead whale along the shore.

7. It is not (surprised / surprising) that Ann lost the chess competition as her opponent was the current world champion.

8. The motivational talk by the entrepreneur was very (inspired / inspiring).

9. The stench from the overturned garbage bins was (disgusted / disgusting).

10. Although the football team did not win any of their matches, they were not (discouraged / discouraging) and continued to train hard.

Answers:

1. disappointed

2. relaxing

3. boring

4. exhausted

5. captivated

6. shocking

7. surprising

8. inspiring

9. disgusting

10. discouraged