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What's a nit? -ed and -ing adjectives in code review comments

This English for IT lesson plan teaches -ed and -ing adjectives at B1, through code review comments and the labels that make them clear.

Grammar
Adjectives in -ing for what causes a feeling (a confusing name, a tiring review) and in -ed for how a person feels (I'm confused by the name.), in ten pairs.
Topic
Code review at Kestrel Cloud, a fictional payments startup: comment labels such as nit, praise and blocking, plus approve and request changes.
Activities
An article on Conventional Comments, a pull request thread, a call about praise, self-checking drills, a review chat and a wheel, then four labeled comments to write and a story to record.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: Who Reviews Your Work?

    • PictureUnlock
    • Open a box and answer: you and your reviewsOpen the boxUnlock
    • Study the review wordsVocabularyTry it
    • Choose the word for each pictureChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2The Story: What's a Nit?

    • Read the story: five little labelsArticleUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer about the storyQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3At Work: PR #917

    • Read the pull request threadReal-life documentTry it
    • True or false? Check the pull request threadTrue or falseUnlock
    • Choose the right label for each commentChoose the optionUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Listen: What's Praise For?

    • Listen to Sofia and Wes's callListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer about the callQuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Grammar: Confusing or Confused?

    • Study the scheme: -ed or -ing?Grammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct adjective: -ed or -ing?Choose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the table with the -ing and -ed adjectivesFill in the tableTry it
    • Complete the second sentence with an -ed or -ing adjectiveFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: how does it feel?QuizUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps in the review chat with the correct adjectiveFill in the gapsUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Speak Up: Your Turn to Review

    • Choose the right replies: your turn to reviewChatTry it
    • Spin the wheel: how do reviews make you feel?Spin the wheelUnlock

  7. Chapter 7Homework: Four Labeled Comments

    • Read your phrase bankReal-life documentUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: Iryna's message to TomChoose the optionUnlock
    • Match the words with their meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Write four review comments with labelsWriting, checked by the teacherUnlock
    • Record a story about a good and a bad reviewSpeaking, checked by the teacherUnlock

25 exercises in 7 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Code review vocabulary

12 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+9 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • approve
  • request changes
  • a reviewer
  • readable
  • a naming convention
  • rename
  • a diff
  • non-blocking
  • overwhelm

Grammar: -ed and -ing adjectives in review comments

A comment can be confusing; the author who reads it is confused. Working through a pull request and its review, learners sort ten pairs by who or what has the feeling, spell both forms correctly, add the preposition that follows the -ed form and stay clear of I'm boring.

-ed and -ing adjectives

-ing: what causes the feeling. -ed: how a person feels.

Ten pairs from one verb

Each verb of feeling gives two adjectives: confuse gives confusing and confused, annoy gives annoying and annoyed. The -ing form describes the cause (an annoying bug), and the -ed form describes the person who has the feeling: The user is annoyed.

Verb-ing: what causes the feeling-ed: how a person feels
confusea confusing nameI'm confused by the name.
annoyan annoying bugThe user is annoyed.
surprisea surprising resultWe were surprised.
interestan interesting ideaI'm interested in Rust.
frustratea frustrating dayJordan is frustrated.
excitean exciting launchThe team is excited.
borea boring meetingEveryone is bored.
tirea tiring reviewIryna is tired.
overwhelman overwhelming pull requestThe author feels overwhelmed.
satisfya satisfying fixWes is satisfied.

Who has the feeling?

Ask whether the subject can feel anything. A name, a review or a meeting can't, so it takes -ing: This name is confusing. A person can take either: Wes can be a bit annoying about names, but Wes gets annoyed means the feeling is his.

-ing: what causes the feeling (a thing, a situation or a person)

  • This name is confusing.
  • Long reviews are tiring.
  • Wes can be a bit annoying about names.

-ed: how a person feels

  • Iryna is confused by this name.
  • I'm tired after long reviews.
  • Wes gets annoyed by short names.

The pairs in the thread and the call

In the review, things and situations take -ing (The empty card was a bit surprising.) and people take -ed (I was a bit overwhelmed at first.). Reviews are tiring to write, but a good one is satisfying to get holds two causes in one sentence.

  • A comment with no label is confusing.the comment causes the feeling
  • Iryna was confused: blocking or not?Iryna has the feeling
  • I was a bit overwhelmed at first.Iryna's own feeling
  • The empty card was a bit surprising.the card causes the surprise
  • Merchants will be really confused.the merchants have the feeling
  • Reviews are tiring to write, but a good one is satisfying to get.the reviews cause the feelings

Spelling and the word after -ed

Verbs ending in -e drop it (confusing, tired), satisfy changes its y only in satisfied, and annoy keeps its y: annoyed. Each -ed adjective has its usual preposition: interested in, excited about, tired of, satisfied with, confused by.

Spelling and small words

Verbs with -e lose it: confuse → confusing, confused; tire → tiring, tired. satisfy → satisfying, but satisfied. annoy keeps its y: annoyed. Words that often come next: interested in, excited about, tired of, satisfied with, confused by.

Typical mistakes

  • This variable name is confused.

    This variable name is confusing.

    A name can't feel anything: it causes the feeling.

  • I'm confusing by this function.

    I'm confused by this function.

    You have the feeling: -ed.

  • I'm interesting in Rust.

    I'm interested in Rust.

    interested in = you want to know more

  • I'm boring in long reviews.

    I get bored in long reviews.

    “I'm boring” means other people find you boring!

More lessons on this grammar: Adjectives and adverbs lessons and exercises

Try the ed and ing adjectives exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 13 auto-checked exercises
  • 2 games
  • 2 teacher-checked tasks
  • 2 real-life documents
  • 1 article
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 1 audio clip
  • 1 picture
  • 1 transcript

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • say what causes a feeling with -ing adjectives: This name is confusing. Long reviews are tiring.
  • say how people feel with -ed adjectives and their prepositions: I'm confused by this name. I'm interested in Rust.
  • avoid the classic traps: I'm interested, not I'm interesting; I get bored, not I'm boring
  • write labeled review comments such as nit:, question: and blocking:, and say whether each one stops the change

Lesson 10 opens Code review, unit 4 of English for IT B1 · Inside the Team, where learners write polite, useful review comments and take feedback calmly. After lesson 9's exact bug tickets, the course moves from reporting a problem to commenting on a fix; lesson 11 adds modals for suggestions, and lesson 12 the first conditional and the unit's pull request task. In a review, This name is confusing judges the code, while I'm confused reports a reaction, and learners need both.

Students open boxes of questions about who reviews their work, then learn twelve review words with pictures and audio, from a nit and praise to a diff and non-blocking. The story presents Conventional Comments, Paul Slaughter's free, public set of labels for review comments. At work, they read the thread of pull request #917 and pick the right label for eight comments; in the AI-voiced call that follows, Sofia and Wes talk about what praise is for.

The grammar chapter adds five self-checking drills to the scheme, among them a table of eight verbs to fill with both adjectives. In the speaking chapter, students review Wes's code in a chat, then spin a wheel of questions about how reviews make them feel. Homework starts with a phrase bank; a gap-fill and a word match check themselves, while four labeled comments to write and a story about a good and a bad review to record go to the teacher.

Grammar:
-ed and -ing adjectives · confusing or confused
Topic:
code review · review comments · Conventional Comments

Teaching tips

  • Ask who has the feeling before every answer: point at the subject and ask Can a name feel anything? If it can't, the adjective ends in -ing.
  • Collect real review comments from the group, names removed, and have pairs add a label to each one and say whether it blocks the change.
  • Play the call twice: first, learners note every label Sofia and Wes mention; then they write down each -ed and -ing word and who or what it describes.
  • One-to-one, review each other's short texts, such as a help page or a ticket: you leave one comment with each label, then the learner writes labeled comments on yours.

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The whole course: English for IT B1 · Inside the Team

24 lessons at B1 for people who build, test or run software, in American English. Learners follow Iryna, a junior developer, through her first year at Kestrel Cloud, a fictional payments startup: standups, tickets, code review, chats across time zones and job interviews. Each lesson is built around a true story from software history.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Hello, team

    roles, stacks and first days: the present simple, the present perfect with for and since, question forms

    1. Lesson 1How big is a two-pizza team?Present simple for jobs and responsibilities
    2. Lesson 2Your first "Hello, World"Present perfect with for and since
    3. Lesson 3Write your personal READMEQuestion forms for getting to know colleagues

  2. Unit 2 The daily standup

    updates and blockers: the present simple and continuous, just, already and yet, have to and need to

    1. Lesson 4Why is it called a scrum?Present simple vs continuous and state verbs
    2. Lesson 5Done, not done yetPast simple, present perfect and going to for updates
    3. Lesson 6Help, I'm blocked!Have to, need to, don't have to and can't

  3. Unit 3 Bugs and tickets

    clear bug reports: the past continuous, imperatives and the zero conditional, quantifiers

    1. Lesson 7The first actual bugPast simple and past continuous for bug stories
    2. Lesson 8Steps to reproduceImperatives and the zero conditional for bug reports
    3. Lesson 9The email that couldn't go 500 milesQuantifiers in bug tickets

  4. Unit 4 Code review

    kind, useful comments: -ed and -ing adjectives, modals for suggestions, the first conditional

    1. Lesson 10 · you're hereWhat's a nit?-ed and -ing adjectives in review comments
    2. Lesson 11Could we maybe…?Modals for suggestions in code review
    3. Lesson 12Your first pull requestThe first conditional and unless in code review

  5. Unit 5 How it works

    explaining systems step by step: time clauses, the passive, relative clauses

    1. Lesson 13What happens when you type a URL?Time clauses with as soon as, until and once
    2. Lesson 14How is a barcode read?The present and past simple passive
    3. Lesson 15Draw it, then say itDefining relative clauses

  6. Unit 6 Remote and async

    chat, email and time zones: polite requests, future forms, the present perfect continuous

    1. Lesson 16Just say what you needPolite requests and indirect questions
    2. Lesson 17Your 9 a.m. is my noonFuture forms for plans across time zones
    3. Lesson 18Write it downPresent perfect continuous for status updates

  7. Unit 7 Users and clients

    user stories and plain explanations: verb + to or -ing, reported speech, comparisons

    1. Lesson 19As a user, I want…Verb + to or verb + -ing
    2. Lesson 20"The client said it was broken"Reported speech for client calls
    3. Lesson 21Explain it in ten hundred wordsComparisons for plain explanations

  8. Unit 8 Your next job

    resumes and interviews: used to, the past perfect, the second conditional

    1. Lesson 22A resume that shows resultsUsed to for your career path
    2. Lesson 23Tell me about a time when…The past perfect for STAR stories
    3. Lesson 24What would you do if…?The second conditional for interviews

Questions about this lesson

What are -ed and -ing adjectives?
Adjectives ending in -ed and -ing are pairs made from the same verb of feeling: confuse gives confusing and confused, bore gives boring and bored. The -ing form describes the thing, situation or person that causes the feeling (a confusing name, a tiring review); the -ed form says how someone feels (I'm confused by the name.). What's a nit?, a B1 English for IT lesson on edio.ai, teaches ten such pairs.
When do you use -ed and -ing adjectives?
Use -ing for the cause, -ed for the person's feeling: Long reviews are tiring. I'm tired after long reviews. A name, a bug or a meeting can't feel anything, so it takes -ing: This name is confusing, never This name is confused. People take -ed for their own feelings (The user is annoyed.) and -ing when they cause a feeling in others: Wes can be a bit annoying about names.
What are common adjectives ending in -ed and -ing?
Everyday pairs come from verbs such as confuse, annoy, surprise and bore: confusing and confused, annoying and annoyed, surprising and surprised, boring and bored. Others are interesting, frustrating, exciting, tiring, overwhelming and satisfying, each with its -ed partner. Verbs ending in -e drop it (tiring, tired), and satisfy keeps its y only before -ing.
What's the difference between bored and boring?
Bored is how you feel; boring is what causes it: The meeting is boring, so everyone is bored. Be careful with I'm boring, which means other people find you dull; in a long review, say I get bored. Tired and tiring work the same way, as a table drill in What's a nit?, a B1 lesson on edio.ai, shows: Night deploys are tiring. After a night deploy, I'm tired.
What's the difference between confusing and confused?
Something confusing makes a person confused: This name is confusing. I'm confused by this name. A variable name can't feel anything, so This variable name is confused is wrong, and so is I'm confusing by this function. In a question comment, the -ed form reports your own reaction: question: What happens when the merchant has no internet? I'm a bit confused here.
Which prepositions go with -ed adjectives?
The usual prepositions after -ed adjectives are interested in, excited about, tired of, satisfied with and confused by: I'm interested in Rust. The team is excited about the beta launch. Iryna is satisfied with her fix. Many -ed adjectives take by for the cause (overwhelmed by the big pull request), and frustrated often takes with: The whole team is frustrated with slow builds.
What does nit mean in code review?
In code review, a nit is a tiny, non-blocking remark about style or taste, short for nitpick. Reviewers put the label first: nit: pDate → payoutDate? Our naming convention is full words. The author may fix it or leave it, and the change can go in either way. The full label in Conventional Comments, a free set of comment labels, is nitpick. Outside code, to nitpick means to criticize small details.
What does LGTM mean?
LGTM stands for looks good to me, and reviewers write it to say a change is ready to go in, often as they approve it: The Failed state works. LGTM, approved! When something must change first, the reviewer requests changes instead: Requesting changes because of the Failed state. The rest is non-blocking. In the B1 English for IT lesson What's a nit? on edio.ai, the pull request thread ends with this approval.
How do you write good code review comments?
Good code review comments are labeled, explain why and say what to do. Start with a label such as praise:, nit:, suggestion:, question: or blocking:, then explain: suggestion: Load it once when the screen opens: it's faster and better for the battery. Say whether the comment blocks the change, and add at least one honest praise: comment to each review. An unlabeled This name is confusing leaves the author guessing.
How do I teach -ed and -ing adjectives to adults?
Start from situations adults know from work: a slow build, a long meeting, sixty comments on a small pull request. Ask two questions about each, What is it like? and How do you feel?, so learners produce both forms: Slow builds are frustrating. The team is frustrated. Then tackle the traps I'm interesting in and I'm boring, and finish with sentences about the learners' own jobs.
What's good homework for practicing -ed and -ing adjectives?
Good homework puts the adjectives into a real piece of work: four review comments on a document, a design or code, each with a label and a feeling, such as I was a bit confused. In the B1 lesson What's a nit? on edio.ai, a gap-fill and a word match check themselves first; the written comments and a recorded story about a good and a bad review go to the teacher.
Are there interactive exercises for -ed and -ing adjectives?
Yes, and each answer is checked the moment it's given, so learners see whether they chose -ed or -ing. On this page, anyone can try four parts of What's a nit?, a B1 English for IT lesson on edio.ai, without signing up: the pull request thread, Sofia and Wes's call about praise, a table of both adjectives for eight verbs, and a chat in which students review Wes's code. The other exercises are locked.
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