Adjectives: -ed and -ing

A lot of adjectives are made from verbs by adding -ing or -ed:

-ing adjectives:

The commonest -ing adjectives are:

amusing	shocking	surprising	frightening
interesting	disappointing	exciting	tiring
worrying	boring	terrifying	annoying

If you call something interesting you mean it interests you.

If you call something frightening you mean it frightens you.

• I read a very interesting article in the newspaper today.
• That Dracula film was absolutely terrifying.

-ed adjectives:

The commonest –ed adjectives are:

annoyed	bored	frightened	worried
tired	closed	excited	delighted
disappointed

If something annoys you, you can say you feel annoyed. If something interests you, you can say you are interested.

• The children had nothing to do. They were bored.

QUESTION

Type in the correct adjective using the -ed or -ing form.

1. Enjoyed the film, but it was really _________ (frighten).

2. I’m not very _________ (interest) in history.

3. He’s a very nice individual but a very _______ (bore) speaker.

4. That was the most ________ (excite) match I’ve seen in months!

5. I’m feeling very ______ (tire). I think I’ll go to bed.

6. I can’t find my glasses. It’s really ________ (annoy)! I had them five minutes ago.

7. I am __________ (surprise) to see you here. I didn’t know you liked classical music.

8. He was very ____________ (disappoint) with the performance. He was expecting so much more.

KEY

1. frightening
2. interested
3. boring
4. exciting
5. tired
6. annoying
7. surprised
8. disappointed