-ed and -ing adjectives: bored or boring? -ed and -ing adjectives exercises for B1 students
About this lesson
This B1 drill lesson gives -ed and -ing adjectives exercises on how people feel (bored, interested) and what causes it (boring, interesting), with spelling and patterns.
- Grammar
- -ed for the person who feels it (I'm bored.), -ing for what causes it (The show is boring.), plus feel / get + -ed, find it + -ing and scary, not scaring.
- Topic
- Popcorn Jury, an invented review site: five audience reviews of Grandpa's Submarine, an invented family movie with a slow middle, a giant catfish and a touching last scene.
- Activities
- Sorting, choices, typed gaps, tables, quizzes, word order, drag-and-drop, an anagram, a memory game and a chat about the movie.
What's inside
Chapter 1The rule
- PictureUnlock
- Study the scheme: -ed and -ing adjectivesGrammar schemeTry it
- Is the sentence correct? Mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
- Sort the sentences: who feels it, what causes it?Sort into columnsTry it
- Choose the right adjective: -ed or -ing?Choose the optionUnlock
- Write the right form of the adjectiveFill in the gapsUnlock
Chapter 2I'm bored: how you feel
- Fill in the gaps: how do they feel?Fill in the gapsTry it
- Choose the right form: feelingsChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the table: verb, -ed and -ingFill in the tableUnlock
- Choose the right answer: how do you feel?QuizUnlock
- Put the words in the right orderUnjumbleUnlock
- Read Olwen's message and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
Chapter 3It's boring: what causes it
- Choose the right adjective: things and situationsChoose the optionTry it
- Fill in the gaps: describe the thingFill in the gapsUnlock
- Fill in the table: say it two waysFill in the tableUnlock
- Choose the right answer: -ing in useful patternsQuizUnlock
- Put the words in order: -ing adjectivesUnjumbleUnlock
- Find the mistake and choose the right wordsQuizUnlock
- Read the park guide and fill in the gapsFill in the gapsUnlock
Chapter 4Bored or boring?
- Choose the right adjective: who feels it, who causes it?Choose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: -ed and -ing in one sentenceFill in the gapsUnlock
- Read and choose the right meaningQuizUnlock
- Drag the words into the gaps: the cause and the feelingDrag and dropTry it
- Sort the sentences: right or wrong?Sort into columnsUnlock
- Put the words in the right order: peopleUnjumbleUnlock
- Read Rhys's forum post and fill in the gapsFill in the gapsUnlock
Chapter 5Real life: At the movies
- Read the audience reviewsReal-life documentUnlock
- Read the reviews again: true or false?True or falseUnlock
- Read the critic's review and fill in the gapsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Read Marlowe's message and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
- Read the interview with the director and choose the right wordsChoose the optionUnlock
- Choose the right replies: Clio texts youChatTry it
- Test yourself: choose the right answerQuizUnlock
Chapter 6Homework
- Choose the right adjective: at schoolChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: a weekend in the mountainsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Sort the sentences: -ed or -ing?Sort into columnsUnlock
- Match the sentences and their meaningsMatchUnlock
- Put the words in the right order: -ed or -ingUnjumbleUnlock
- Fill in the table: a person and a thingFill in the tableUnlock
- Drag the words into the gaps: a family tripDrag and dropUnlock
- Unscramble the adjectivesAnagramUnlock
- Find the mistake in each sentenceQuizUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: feelings and opinionsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Find the matching pairs: verb and -ing adjectiveMemory gameUnlock
- Read the sentences: correct or not? Mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
- Read Bronwyn's email and fill in the gapsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Read the news story and choose the right wordsChoose the optionUnlock
- Choose the correct sentenceQuizUnlock
Grammar: -ed and -ing adjectives: the feeling and the cause
Pairs like bored and boring come from the same verb but look in opposite directions. -ed describes how someone feels: I'm bored. -ing describes what causes that feeling: This show is boring. Learners ask who feels it and what causes it, spell each pair and use the patterns that go with them.
-ed and -ing adjectives: bored or boring?
-ed tells us how a person feels. -ing tells us what causes the feeling.
-ed: how a person feels
A person or an animal feels it, so the adjective ends in -ed: My dog gets excited when I come home. It often follows be, feel, get or look: You look tired. I feel relaxed.
-ed: how a person feels
- The person (or the animal) feels it.
- I'm bored. (= I feel bored.)
- My dog gets excited when I come home.
-ing: what causes the feeling
- The thing, place, situation or person causes the feeling.
- This show is boring. (= It makes me feel bored.)
- Walks in the park are exciting for my dog.
-ing: what causes the feeling
The thing, place or situation that causes it takes -ing: The climb was exhausting. An -ing cause leads to an -ed feeling: The quiz was confusing. → The players were confused.
the causeis -ing→the personfeels -ed
The quiz was confusing. → The players were confused.
The final was exciting. → Everyone in the stadium was excited.
The climb was exhausting. → We felt exhausted.
Common pairs and their spelling
Most pairs simply add -ed or -ing: interested, interesting. Verbs ending in e lose it (surprised, surprising), y after a consonant turns to i before -ed (worried, terrified), and embarrassed has rr and ss.
Common pairs
| Verb | -ed: I feel… | -ing: It is… |
|---|---|---|
| bore | bored | boring |
| interest | interested | interesting |
| excite | excited | exciting |
| surprise | surprised | surprising |
| amaze | amazed | amazing |
| confuse | confused | confusing |
| annoy | annoyed | annoying |
| embarrass | embarrassed | embarrassing |
| tire | tired | tiring |
| frighten | frightened | frightening |
| disappoint | disappointed | disappointing |
| exhaust | exhausted | exhausting |
More pairs
- shocked / shocking
- terrified / terrifying
- fascinated / fascinating
- relaxed / relaxing
- satisfied / satisfying
- frustrated / frustrating
- inspired / inspiring
- worried / worrying
- touched / touching
Prepositions and useful patterns
-ed adjectives take prepositions: interested in, excited about, scared of, surprised by. -ing ones follow find + something, It's and That sounds: I found the book boring. Scared pairs with scary, never scaring.
- be / feel / get / look + -ed: I got bored. You look tired. I feel relaxed.
- -ed + preposition: interested in · excited / worried about · scared / tired of · surprised / shocked by · bored / disappointed with
- -ing + a noun: an exciting game · a confusing map · annoying neighbors
- -ed + a person or an animal: bored kids · a confused tourist · a frightened cat
- find + something + -ing: I found the book boring.
- It's + -ing + to / when / that: It's embarrassing to fall. It's annoying when my phone dies.
- That sounds + -ing: That sounds amazing!
- scared (how you feel) → scary (what causes it): a scary movie (Not: a scaring movie)
- Spelling: surprise → surprised, surprising · worry → worried · terrify → terrified · annoy → annoyed · embarrass → embarrassed
People can be both
With a person, the meaning decides: Max was really interested in my trip (he felt it), but Our new history teacher is really interesting (she causes it). Things and situations almost always take -ing: The movie was so boring, not so bored.
People can be both!
A person can feel it or cause it, so think about the meaning. Ben is bored. = Ben feels bored. Ben is boring. = Ben makes other people feel bored. So in a long class, say: I'm bored. (Not: I'm boring, unless you put everyone to sleep!) Things and situations almost always take -ing: a boring class, an interesting idea.
Common mistakes
The movie was so bored.
The movie was so boring.
the movie causes the feeling: -ing
I'm interesting in art.
I'm interested in art.
you feel it: -ed (interested in)
We felt very exciting about the trip.
We felt very excited about the trip.
be / feel / get + -ed for a person's feelings
My sister was so embarassed!
My sister was so embarrassed!
spelling: rr and ss
Examples
- The speech was boring, and half the guests were bored.the cause and the feeling
- Are you interested in astronomy?you feel it: -ed + in
- It was a really exciting race!the race causes it
- I got confused because the signs were confusing.-ed and -ing
- My little brother is so annoying!a person who causes the feeling
- We were amazed by the fireworks.-ed + by
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.
What's in the lesson
- 39 auto-checked exercises
- 6 games
- 1 real-life document
- 1 grammar scheme
- 1 picture
The main objectives of this lesson are to:
- describe feelings with -ed: We got bored after an hour, so we left the party early. Are you interested in modern art?
- describe causes with -ing: I don't like long car trips. They're so tiring. What an exciting game!
- tell a person who feels it from a person who causes it: Nobody talked to me, so I was really bored against My uncle is so boring!
- spell the pairs: worried and worrying, annoyed, embarrassed, and say scary, not scaring
- use the patterns: interested in, excited about, I found the book boring, That sounds amazing!
Lesson 26 of English Grammar Practice · B1 is filed on the adjectives and adverbs page. It follows lesson 25, All, both, either, neither, none: two or a whole group?, and leads into lesson 27, Advanced comparatives: the more, the better. The drill lesson has no word list of its own, so it fits beside any course whenever students mix up bored and boring.
Chapter 1 shows a picture and the scheme, then four drills, among them a sort by who feels it and what causes it. I'm bored: how you feel ends with Olwen's message after an open-mic comedy night, It's boring: what causes it with an adventure park guide, and Bored or boring? with Rhys's post about two history teachers. At the movies has five audience reviews, a critic's review, Marlowe's message, an interview with the director, a chat with Clio and a 12-question test.
At home, students do 15 tasks that all check themselves: school, a weekend in the mountains and a family trip, an anagram, a memory game of verbs and their -ing forms, a table of a person and a thing, Bronwyn's email about zip-lining on her 40th birthday and a news story about a moose in a grocery store.
- Grammar:
- -ed and -ing adjectives · bored / boring · adjectives of feeling · find + it + -ing
- Topic:
- grammar practice · movies · feelings · reviews
Teaching tips
- Draw an arrow from the cause to the person: the movie → me. The movie is boring; I am bored. Students draw the arrow for each new sentence before they choose.
- Collect the prepositions on a card: interested in, excited about, scared of, surprised by, bored with. Students learn each -ed word together with its preposition.
- Ask about a movie everyone has seen before the reviews: Was it exciting? Was anyone bored? Then students read what five viewers wrote about Grandpa's Submarine.
- Turn verbs into pairs: say a verb, such as annoy or worry, and students write both adjectives with the right spelling: annoyed, annoying, worried, worrying.
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The whole course: English Grammar Practice · B1
English Grammar Practice · B1 has 28 drill lessons, one grammar point each: the present perfect continuous, narrative tenses, future forms, modals of deduction, the second conditional, the passive, relative clauses, reported speech, question tags and linkers. Each has the rule as a scheme, 43 to 47 exercises that check themselves, 15 of them for homework, and no new words.See the course
- 1Present perfect continuous: how long have you been doing it?
- 2Present perfect simple or continuous: how many or how long?
- 3Past perfect: what had happened before?
- 4Narrative tenses: telling a great story
- 5Future forms: plans, promises and timetables
- 6Future time clauses: I'll call you when I land
- 7Used to, be used to, get used to: settling in
- 8Modal verbs: can, must, should or might?
- 9Could, was able to, managed to: did you make it?
- 10Modals of deduction: whose bag could it be?
- 11Second conditional: what would you do?
- 12Conditionals compared: real or imagined?
- 13Present and past passive: how is it made?
- 14Passive in other tenses: what's being done?
- 15Relative clauses: the person who, the place where
- 16Reported statements: who said what?
- 17Reported questions and commands: what did they ask you?
- 18Indirect questions: could you tell me where it is?
- 19Question tags: it's your first day, isn't it?
- 20Gerunds and infinitives: enjoy doing or decide to do?
- 21Reflexive pronouns: did you make it yourself?
- 22Although, however, despite: great view, tiny room
- 23So, such and because of: what a storm!
- 24Phrasal verbs: who's going to clean it up?
- 25All, both, either, neither, none: two or a whole group?
- 26-ed and -ing adjectives: bored or boring?
- 27Advanced comparatives: the more, the better
- 28Articles with place names: the Nile, but Lake Como