Adjectives ending in '-ed' and '-ing'

Grammar explanation

Adjectives that end in -ed (e.g. bored, interested) and adjectives that end in -ing (e.g. boring, interesting) are often confused.

-ed adjectives

Adjectives that end in -ed generally describe emotions – they tell us how people feel.

I was so bored in that meeting, I almost fell asleep.
He was surprised to see Mary after all those years.
She was really tired and went to bed early.

-ing adjectives

Adjectives that end in -ing generally describe the thing that causes the emotion – a boring lesson makes you feel bored.

Have you seen that film? It's really frightening.
I could listen to her talk for hours. She's so interesting.
I can't sleep! The construction noise is really annoying!

Here are some adjectives that can have both an -ed and an -ing form.

annoyed

annoying

bored

boring

confused

confusing

disappointed

disappointing

excited

exciting

frightened

frightening

interested

interesting

surprised

surprising

tired

tiring

worried

worrying