'-ed' and '-ing' adjectives: describing feelings and things



My holiday was relaxing. I felt really relaxed.'

Few, but common, adjectives end in either -ed or -ing:

worried/worrying, interested/interesting, excited/exciting

'-ed' adjectives

Adjectives that end in -ed are used to describe how people feel:

'He was surprised to find that he had been upgraded to first class.'

'I was confused by the findings of the report.'

'She felt tired after working hard all day.'

 '-ing' adjectives


Adjectives that end in -ing are used to describe things and situations. Compare these example sentences to the ones above:

'Being upgraded to first class is surprising.'

The findings of this report are confusing.'

'Working hard all day is tiring.'


example table: 

-ed and -ing adjectives tables
Feel '-ed' describe '-ing'
annoyed annoying
bored boring
confused confusing
depressed depressing
excited exciting
frustrated frustrating
frightened frightening
satisfied satisfying
shocked shocking

 

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