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Adjectives -ed/-ing

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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.
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→ I have special materials prepared for Polish students.
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Introduction

Watch the two clips below and choose the correct words used in each.
  • “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.”
Which adjective in each pair used in the clips (depressed and frustrating) describes how a person feels, and which one describes something that causes that feeling? Now, complete the sentence using the words cause and feels.
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-ed adjectives describe how a person …, while -ing adjectives describe the … of a feeling.

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.
 

Exercise 1

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.

4a “Oh my gosh this is so ...”
The perks of working from home
68.7k votes, 620 comments. 5.0m members in the MadeMeSmile community. A place to share things that made you smile or brightened up your day. A ...
The perks of working from home
https://www.reddit.com/r/MadeMeSmile/comments/tisfp5/the_perks_of_working_from_home/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
The perks of working from home
4b “Oh, come on. Are you ...?”

Exercise 2

Finish the sentences by adding -ed or -ing ending based on the pictures.
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Exercise 3

Choose the correct adjective
  1. Frodo 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.
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Exercise 4

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 5

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...”
taylor swift's most embarassing moment in her whole life 😂 #shorts #taylorswift
shorts #taylorswift #taylornation #shakeitoff #vmas #arianagrande #taylor_swift #taylorswiftshorts #swifties #selenagomez #shortsvideo #shortsfeed #shortsbe...
taylor swift's most embarassing moment in her whole life 😂 #shorts #taylorswift
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CzoA9dItHg8?&ab_channel=CelebritiesDaily
taylor swift's most embarassing moment in her whole life 😂 #shorts #taylorswift
  • “Sam, I'm really excited/exciting for your trip.”
  • “Oh my God, you’re so annoyed/annoying.”
 

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