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When I was reading a book yesterday, was I bored or was I boring? What’s the difference? Find out in this class.

→ You can download materials for this class here. The theory and two exercises are included.

📄 Adjectives -ed -ing.png

→ I have special materials prepared for Polish students. You can download them here.

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Buy me a cup of coffee! ☕ If you found my materials useful and you’d like to support me, buy me a cup of coffee here: ko-fi.com/sipofenglish

 

Theory

Remember that adjectives ending in -ed describe how somebody feels. Adjectives ending in -ing describe the cause of a feeling. Take a look at the examples.

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When you’re not sure which ending you should choose, answer this question first. Is this adjective describing the cause of the feeling or how somebody feels? Then remember that ED = EFFECT and ING = CAUSE. This should help. Don’t rush, learning something new is a process. Take it step by step.

 

Learn with clips

Choose the correct adjective: interested / interesting.

1a 'Now I’m supposed to say, “Hmm, that’s ..., “but you already know what I’m going to tell you’

1b 'You’re lucky to have a little girl that’s ... in things. I have a kid, 17, does nothing all day long.’

Choose the correct adjective: frustrated / frustrating.

2a '-I am miles from home with a fish that can’t even remember her own name. -Oh I bet that’s ...’

2b 'I’m sorry, Captain. I know you’re exhausted, and we’re all ..., but we cannot fail.’

Choose the correct adjective: disgusted / disgusting.

3a 'Back then all of us drank too much. When I came from New York, I was ... with everyone and everything.’

3b Rose sees Jack spit and says, ‘Ah, that’s ....’

Choose the correct adjective: embarrassed / embarrassing.

Exercise 2

Choose the correct adjective

  1. Harry Potter is an interesting/interested character.
  1. I was annoying/annoyed when I saw that my dog destroyed my shoes.
  1. She’s always tiring/tired after work.
  1. I’ve never been to Greece so I’m really exciting/excited to go!
  1. Don’t watch that film. It’s boring/bored.
  1. I can’t understand why she’s interesting/interested in modern art.
  1. I like watching videos of funny animals. It’s very amusing/amused.
  1. I was so embarrassing/embarrassed when my mum showed my friends pictures from my childhood.
  1. I don’t want to work late again. I’ll be so tiring/tired tomorrow.
  1. Being stuck in a traffic jam is so frustrating/frustrated.
 
Exercise 3

Form a correct adjective ending in -ed or -ing.

  1. I am very ... about this trip! (excite).
  1. This book is so ... (bore).
  1. I was ... because the bus was late (frustrate).
  1. A long bath after a hard day is ... (relax).
  1. I didn’t sleep well and I’m really ... (tire).
  1. This lecture was actually ... I really liked it! (interest)
  1. They keep interrupting me. It’s ... (irritate).
  1. I don’t know which adjective I should use. I’m ... (confuse).
  1. I felt very ... when I fell down the stairs (embarrass).
  1. I was ... when you didn’t call (disappoint).
 

Conversation practice

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Exercise 4

Choose the correct ending and answer the questions.

  1. What do you do to feel relaxed/relaxing?
  1. Are you scared/scaring of spiders?
  1. When you see a big dog do you feel excited/exciting or frightened/frightening?
  1. What kind of videos do you find amused/amusing?
  1. Did you feel bored/boring when you studied history as a teenager?
  1. What is the most frustrated/frustrating aspect of travelling?
  1. What do you do when you feel overwhelmed/overwhelming?
  1. What is the most bored/boring job?
  1. Would you say that your job is fascinated/fascinating?
  1. What kind of music do you find relaxed/relaxing?
 

Extra clips!

Choose the correct adjective

  • This is so excited/exciting. You’re a spy!
  • This time I didn’t talk to your mum. I’m not gonna give any embarrassed/embarrassing videos of you...
  • Sam, I'm really excited/exciting for your trip.
  • Oh my God, you’re so annoyed/annoying.
  • I didn't watch the ending. I was too depressed/depressing.
  • -It’s out of your house but it’s not out of your head. -Yes exactly. It’s extremely frustrated/frustrating.
 

Answer key

Learn with clips

1a interesting

1b interested

2a frustrating

2b frustrated

3a disgusted

3b disgusting

4a embarrassing

4b embarrassed

 
Exercise 2

1. interesting 2. annoyed 3. tired 4. excited 5. boring 6. interested 7. amusing 8. embarrassed 9. tired 10. frustrating

 
Exercise 3

1. excited 2. boring 3. frustrated 4. relaxing 5. tired 6. interesting 7. irritating 8. confused 9. embarrassed 10. disappointed

 
Choose the correct adjective

1 exciting

2 embarrassing

3 excited

4 annoying

5 depressed

6 frustrating

 
Conversation practise

1. relaxed

2. scared

3. excited, frightened

4. amusing

5. bored

6. frustrating

7. overwhelmed

8. boring

9. fascinating

10. relaxing

 
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