ADJECTIVES ENDING IN ING AND -ED

PRESENT PARTICIPIAL ADJECTIVE -ING PAST PARTICIPIAL ADJECTIVE -ED

Cause or source (agent) of the feeling or emotion The
present participle serves as an adjective formed from an
active verb.
SOURCE
The clown was entertaining the family. (active verb)
The clown was entertaining. (present participial adjective )
Receiver of the feeling or emotion The past participle
serves as an adjective formed from the passive form of
the verb.
RECEIVER
The family was entertained by the clown. (passive verb)
The family was entertained. (past participial adjective )

Other Participial Adjectives

CAUSE OF THE FEELING RECEIVER OF THE FEELING

Describe the feeling and knowledge of others Describe the feeling and knowledge of the subject
alarming frustrating alarmed frustrated
amazing astounding amazed astounded
amusing humiliating amused humiliated
annoying interesting annoyed interested
astonishing intriguing astonished intrigued
boring overwhelming bored overwhelmed
compelling perplexing compelled perplexed
concerning pleasing concerned pleased
confusing relaxing confused relaxed
depressing interesting depressed interested
embarrassing relieving embarrassed relieved
encouraging satisfying encouraged satisfied
energizing shocking energized shocked
enlightening stunning enlightened stunned
entertaining surprising entertained surprised
exciting terrifying excited terrified
exhausting tiring exhausted tired
frightening fascinating frightened fascinated
surprising disappointing surprised disappointed
shocking worrying shocked worried
exciting exhausting excited exhausted
disgusting disgusted

Common Mistakes

ERROR FIX
I was surprised to see sheep walking on the road.
I was surprising to see sheep walking on the road. Use surprised instead of surprising as the adjective for the
receiver of the feeling or emotion.
The towers of the Golden Gate Bridge are very The towers of the Golden Gate Bridge are very impressive from
impressing from below. below.
Use impressive instead of impressing as the adjective for the

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 ADJECTIVES ENDING IN ING AND -ED
source of the feeling or emotion.

Participial Adjectives -ed / -ing

As Modifiers to Subjects
Cause (Source) vs. Receiver

PRESENT PARTICIPIAL ADJECTIVE -ING PAST PARTICIPIAL ADJECTIVE -ED

Receiver of the feeling or emotion The past participle

Cause of the feeling or emotion The present participle
serves as an adjective formed from the passive form of
serves as an adjective formed from an active verb.
the verb.
An amusing ride An amused child

The ride causes amusement. The child receives the feeling of amusement.

Interesting people will will speak during the 2-day class. Interested people can sign up for the 2-day class.
(People cause others to feel interest.) (The people feel interest in the subject.)

Boring speakers put their attendees to sleep. Bored speakers should find something exciting to say.
(The speaker causes others to be bored.) (The speaker feels boredom while speaking!)

Amusing short films are shown at the animated film festival. Amused viewers enjoy the short films.
(The films cause the amusement.) (The viewers feel the amusement.)

Overwhelming amounts of work are given to University

Overwhelmed students end up dropping a course or two.
students.
(The students feel overwhelmed.)
(The amount of work causes the overwhelming.)

EXERCISES
1. My bath was_________. I feel _________now. (RELAX)
(relaxing/relaxed)
2. Joe is _________ because he had a _________day. (TIRE)
Tired/ tiring
3. How to get the cheese was _________. The mouse was _________.(CONFUSE)
(confusing/confused)
4. So much homework was _________. The student felt _________.(OVERWHELM)
overwhelming/overwhelmed
5. Your jokes are _________. I am _________.(AMUSE)
amusing, amused
6. I was so _________by the movie. The scenes in the movie were _________.(TOUCH)
touched/touching
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7. The TV program was _________. I felt _________while watching it. (BORE)
Boring/bored
8. My angry father's words were _________. I felt_________.(UPSET)
upsetting/ upset
9. The nurse's big needle was _________. I felt _________when she walked over to me! (FRIGHTEN)
Frightening/ frightened
10. Ted forgot to close his zipper. It was _________. Ted felt _________.(EMBARRASS)
embarrassing/embarrassed
11. Getting hit in the behind with an arrow was _________. Lancelot felt _________.(HUMILIATE)
humiliating/ humiliated
12. My alarm clock wouldn't stop ringing. I was _________. The sound was _________.(ANNOY)
annoyed/annoying
13. I was _________after reading the _________news headlines. (ALARM)
alarmed/alarming
14. The movie, King Kong, was _________. The children who were watching it were ______.(TERRIFY)
terrifying/terrified
15. I felt _________ after getting a _________ massage. (PLEASE)
Pleased/ pleasing
16. Michael Phelps was _________. Michael Phelps' Olympic win was _________.(EXCITE)
excited/ exciting
17. I was _________. The painting called" Mona Piggy" was _________.( INTRIGUE)
Intrigued/ intriguing
18. He heard a strange sound and was _________. The strange sound was _________.(CONCERN)
concerned/ concerning
19. Her weight loss from the diet was _________. She was _________.(ENCOURAGE)
encouraging/ encouraged
20. The taste was _________. I was _________.(SATISFY)
satisfying/satisfied
21. He's such a monotonous speaker. I was ________________ stiff. (bored / boring)
22. Most sequels are ________________. (disappointed / disappointing)
23. I had such a ________________ day I went straight to bed. (tired / tiring)
24. Everyone's very ________________ about the news. (excited / exciting)
25. That lamp produces a very ________________ effect. (pleased / pleasing)
26. The whole school was ________________ by the tragic event. (saddened / saddening)
27. I don't like watching ________________ films on my own. (depressed / depressing)
28. I was ________________ when she told me she'd got divorced. (amazed / amazing)
29. He's such a ________________ guy. He only ever talks about himself. (bored / boring)
30. I'm very ________________ in films and theatre. (interested / interesting)
31. No one knew what would happen next. We were all ________________. (intrigued / intriguing)
32. It was a very ________________ situation. (interested / interesting)
33. There's been some very ________________ news. (surprised / surprising)
34. His mother was ________________ by what she found under his bed. (disgusted / disgusting)
35. Their hamburgers are ________________. (disgusted / disgusting)
36. Dad always arrives home from work thoroughly ________________. (exhausted / exhausting)
37. He's always showing off. It's really ________________. (annoyed / annoying)
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38. I think Alex is one of the most ________________ people I've ever met. He can't keep still for a second.
(annoyed / annoying)
39. I walked into this restaurant and there was Andy with a strange woman. He seemed really
________________. (embarrassed / embarrassing)
40. She kept talking about her boyfriend problems all night. It was rather ________________.
(embarrassed / embarrassing)
41.By 12.00 Susan felt so TIRED that she went to bed
42.I heard the film was good, but it was very DISAPPOINTING
43.Being alone in an old house at night can be FRIGHTENING
44. Anita was so EMBARRASSED that her whole face turned red.
45. Jerry gets BORED if he has to study too much.
46.It's very CONFUSING to be taught in so many classrooms.
47. Dolly said that the twenty-mile walk was EXHAUSTING.
48.Are you INTERESTED in going to the beach tomorrow?
49.I was really SURPRISED when my employer gave me the day off.
50. Why don't you go away and stop being so ANNOYING!
51.What a _____ (shock) thought. (shocking)
52.Have you heard the _____ (suprise) news about Alice and Ted? (suprising)
53.I thought it was the most _____ (astound) thing I'd heard in a long time. They're always fighting
like cats and dogs. (astounding)
54.I agree with you. I was pretty _____ (shock) when I heard about it myself. (shocked)
55.I was always _____ (worry) that they would break up. Now I can relax. (worried)
56.What a _____ (depress) idea. (depressing)
57.That would be an _____ (upset) thing to happen. (upsetting)
58.Dogs often feel ___ during fieworks.( frightened/ frightening)
59.The metro can be ___ the first time you use it.( confusing/ confused)
60. Satoru was ___ to hear about the earthquake.( shocked/ shocking)
61.I think that rainy days in winter are ___.( depressed/ depressing)
62.She's ___ of doing the same thing every day.( bored/ boring)
63. It was the most ___ I have been watching a film.( excited/ exciting)
64.The meals at Immigrant's Cafe are ___. (satisfied/ satisfying)
65.Sally has been running for three hours and now she is _________(EXHAUSTED)
66.My brother had an accident and his situation is quite _________(WORRYING)
67.When we visited that abandoned house it was really _________(DEPRESSING)
68.I think he was _________because he called me Mary and my name is Rose. (CONFUSED)
69.That film is not _________despite being a comedy. (AMUSING)
70.Your bathroom is _________! Couldnt you clean it a little? (DISGUSTING)
71.Are you _________in reading one of my novels? (INTERESTING)
72.What is the most _________story youve ever heard? (FRIGHTENING)
73.It was the most _________meeting I have ever attended. (BORING)
74.When we broke the vase, we felt very _________.(EMBARRASSED)
75.Is the book you are reading very _________? Interest(-ING)
76.The new James Bond film is really _________. Thrill(-ING)
77.We were both _________that she hadnt heard the news. Surprise(-ED)
78.The images of the war were very _________. Depress(-ING)
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79.I nearly fell asleep in the cinema. The film was so _________. Bore(-ING)
80.She had such good marks that she was very _________. Encourage(-ED)
81.Can you tell me where that _________ noise comes from? Annoy(-ING)
82.They were _________ the weather wasnt good yesterday. Disappoint(-ED)
83.My sister was _________ by my old toys. Fascinate(-ED)
84.When you are not in good spirits, it is _________ to stay in bed all day. Tempt(-ING)
85.I do the same thing every day. My job is very ______. BORING
86.I have nothing to do. I'm ______. BORED
87.My job is very varied. I find it ______. INTERESTING
88.I'm ______ in applying for the job. INTERESTED
89.I heard some very ______ news. I'm going to lose my job. I feel terrible. DEPRESSING
90.Cheer up. Don't feel so ______. There are plenty of other jobs. DEPRESSED
91.I heard a very ______ story. It will make you laugh.AMUSING
92.It's not ______ that you failed the exam. You never did any work. SURPRISING
93.It was an _______ game. It made us_______.(exciting/excited)
94.Yesterday she heard _______ news. She was so _______ that she couldnt say anything.
(surprising/ surprised )
95.Jennifer is _____ because she's getting married today.( excited/ exciting)
96.David is so _____, all he talks about is his computer.( bored/ boring)
97.I'm really _____ about my interivew.( worried/ worrying)
98.Niran was _____ to get a letter from his ex-girlfriend.( surprised/ surprising)
99.There's nothing _____ on TV tonight.( interested/ interesting)
100. Javier had a very _____ holiday in Greece.( relaxed/ relaxing)
101. Hi, Jane. Have you had an _____ (interest) day? (interesting)
102. I've had a very _____ (excite) day. It's my birthday today. (exciting)
103. I'm a little _____ (confuse). I thought your birthday was next month. (confused)
104. Oh! Now I'm _____ (embarrass). I didn't get you a present. (embarrassed)
105. That's _____ (disappoint). But it's OK. (disappointing)
106. Now I'm _____ (depress), too. (depressed)
107. Hey, I've just had a _____ (fascinate) idea. (fascinating)
108. Why don't we go shopping and get you a present right now? That way we can get you
something really _____ (please). (pleased)
109. What an _____ (enchant) idea. Where shall we start? (enchanting)
110. Hi, Mark. You look _____ (tire). (tired)
111. I am. I'm totally _____ (exhaust) (exhausted)
112. That's the _____(frighten) thing. I'm starting to believe that it will never be finished.
(frightening)

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