Adjectives ending in -ed and -ing
On this page
FormParticipial adjectives ending -ed and -ing
Feelings and their causes
Ongoing and complete processes
Adjective or verb?
Quizzes for adjectives ending in -ed and -ing
Resource index for adjectives ending in -ed and -ing
Form
Participle (participial) adjectives
verb+ing
verb+ed
verb+ing
verb+ed
Participial adjectives ending in ed / ing
Some adjectives that end in -ed and -ing are examples of participle (or participial) adjectives. They are formed from the past participles and present participles of verbs. interested / interesting (verb: to interest)
surprised / surprising (verb: to surprise)
tired / tiring (verb: to tire) It is important to choose the correct one. Note that not all -ed and -ing adjectives are participial adjectives. For example, there is an adjective talented, but there is no verb to talent and no adjective talenting.
surprised / surprising (verb: to surprise)
tired / tiring (verb: to tire)
Participle adjectives often describe feelings and their causes.
Adjectives ending-ed describe feelings; adjectives ending -ing describe causes
He was surprised when he saw his results.
These adjectives describe feelings.
His results were surprising.
These adjectives describe causes.
Verbs can express the same ideas
His results surprised him.
More examples
The movie was boring.
I was bored.
The noise was frightening.
The horse was frightened.
The book was fascinating.
She was fascinated.
Adjective pairs can describe ongoing and complete processes
Adjectives ending -ed or -ing can describe processes
This relates to a process which we can express with the verb to fry
Complete and ongoing processes
Verb: melt. The process is complete.
Verb: melt. The process is ongoing.
We had fried rice for lunch. Complete
Irregular past participles are used with irregular verbs
There's broken glass on the floor. Complete
A fallen tree was blocking the road. Complete
Adjective or verb?
Adjectives can be modified by adverbs such as very; verbs cannot.
Travel has always interested me.
She has surprised everyone this term.
We have been surprised by the change in her behaviour.
The change in her behaviour has surprised everybody.
With the adjectives, it is often possible to add the adverb very, but not with the verbs:
Travel has always interested me.
She has surprised everyone this term.
We have been very surprised by the change in her behaviour.
The change in her behaviour has surprised everybody.
ESL quizzes for adjectives ending in -ed and -ing