Original Content: https://www.dansenseienglish.com/grammar/bored-boring/
Adjectives that end in ~ed vs adjectives that end in ~ing can be confusing. This common mistake can make you look really strange if you get it wrong.
There are many adjectives in English that can end in either ~ed or ~ing. They look similar, but they are used in pretty different ways.
In this lesson, we are going to look at how they are different and when you should use the different forms.
WHAT ARE ADJECTIVES?
An adjective in English is a word that we use to describe things. We usually put them before a noun in a sentence to give us more information about that noun.
Common adjectives are things like
- big,
- small,
- old,
- new,
- fast,
- slow,
- hot,
- cold,
- red,
- blue and so on.
ADJECTIVE ENDINGS.
Usually, adjectives are formed from the base word. This is usually a verb. Take a look at these examples:
- Hero = Heroic
- Rain = Rainy
- Child = Childish
- Beauty = Beautiful
Bored and boring both come from the base word bore. This is why they have quite similar meanings. Look at this example:
This movie bores me.
In English, you can usually tell what an adjective does based on the ending of the word.
As bored and boring have different endings, they also do different things.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BORED AND BORING?
OK, so there is a difference between these two words.
Bored is describing a person’s feelings. They are not interested.
Boring is describing a person, place or thing that is not interesting.
Look at this sentence.
The meeting was really boring, so I was really bored.
So basically, this is the rule…
~ed is describing a feeling but ~ing is describing a thing.
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DOES THIS WORK FOR ALL ADJECTIVES?
Yes, this rule is the same for all adjectives that end in ~ed or ~ing.
~ed is describing a feeling but ~ing is describing a thing.
Here are some example sentences to show you how this works:
- The documentary was interesting, so I was interested
- She was excited because the baseball game was exciting
- His boss is really annoying, so he was annoyed.
- The news was worrying, so they were worried.
- My job is tiring, so I am tired.
When you use these adjectives, you don’t need to use both versions.
Usually, you just need to use one and people will understand the other one automatically. Like this:
- The documentary was interesting, (so I was interested)
- (She was excited because) the baseball game was exciting
- His boss is really annoying, (so he was annoyed.)
- The news was worrying, (so they were worried.)
- My job is tiring, (so I am tired.)
You don’t need to say the parts in (brackets) but people will know that is what you mean.
**CAN PEOPLE BE BORING? **
Yes, they can.
We can use ~ing adjectives to talk about people as well as places, things and ideas.
We usually use ~ed adjectives to talk about peoples feelings but we can use ~ing to describe what kind of person they are.
When we use ~ing adjectives to talk about people, we are talking about their personality or characteristics, or how they are acting. Here are some examples.
- Steven is a really interesting person.
- Mike is so annoying, he never stops talking!
- She is so excited about her date tomorrow night.
Just because we usually use ~ed adjectives to talk about people, doesn’t mean that we can’t use ~ing adjectives too.
Just be careful to choose the right one!
WHAT OTHER ADJECTIVES CAN END IN ED OR ING?
There are lots of adjectives that can end in ~ed or ~ing. Here is a list of common examples.
- annoyed/annoying
- bored/boring
- confused/confusing
- disappointed/disappointing
- excited /exciting
- frightened/frightening
- interested/interesting
- surprised/surprising
- tired/tiring
- worried/worrying
There are many more examples, but these are the ones you will use the most, so they are a good place to start.
WHAT HAPPENS IF I CHOOSE THE WRONG ADJECTIVE ENDING?
Well, like most things in English, a native speaker will probably understand what you mean, but it will be a bit strange.
If you tell someone:
I didn’t do anything last weekend. I was so boring.
You are basically saying:
I didn’t do anything last weekend. I am a boring person.
Telling people you are a boring person is not a good way to make new friends! The same thing is true of you describe another person using the wrong adjective.
Imagine your friend is watching a terrible movie and does not look interested at all.
He looks so boring. = He looks like a boring person.
This is not a nice thing to say about your friend! This is why you need to be careful.
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