Many English adjectives come in -ed / -ing pairs formed from verbs: bored / boring, tired / tiring, interested / interesting. Both forms are adjectives, both are built from the same verb, but they describe two different things — and mixing them up is one of the most frequent mistakes B1 learners make.
These pairs are called participial adjectives because they come from the participle forms of a verb.
The core rule
-ed describes how someone feels. -ing describes the thing — or person — that causes the feeling.
The film causes boredom, so it is boring. The viewer experiences boredom, so she is bored. Flip either word and the meaning breaks: "The film was bored" suggests the film itself has feelings, which it cannot.
The same split runs through every pair in the list below.
Common pairs
These are the pairs you will meet most often in everyday English.
| VERB | -ED (FEELING) | -ING (CAUSE) |
|---|---|---|
| bore | bored | boring |
| tire | tired | tiring |
| interest | interested | interesting |
| excite | excited | exciting |
| confuse | confused | confusing |
| surprise | surprised | surprising |
| amaze | amazed | amazing |
| frighten | frightened | frightening |
| embarrass | embarrassed | embarrassing |
| disappoint | disappointed | disappointing |
| annoy | annoyed | annoying |
| relax | relaxed | relaxing |
| satisfy | satisfied | satisfying |
| shock | shocked | shocking |
| worry | worried | worrying |
Note that participial adjectives use more / most for comparison, not -er / -est: more interesting, most surprising — never interestinger.
-ing adjectives for things and situations
The -ing form works with any noun that can cause a feeling — not just films and books, but events, places, sounds, and abstract situations.
Each of these describes what the thing does to the people around it. A worrying situation makes people worry. An annoying sound makes people annoyed.
-ed adjectives for people and animals
The -ed form describes the emotional state of someone who can actually feel something — a person, or sometimes an animal.
Because objects and situations cannot feel anything, "the film was bored" or "the trip was excited" are not possible in English.
When a person takes -ing
A person can still take the -ing form — but only when that person is the cause of the feeling in others, not the one experiencing it.
Two completely different statements. The first is a judgment about his effect on others; the second is about his own state of mind. This is why "I am boring" and "I am bored" are famously different sentences — one says you put people to sleep, the other says you have nothing to do.
Prepositions after -ed adjectives
Feelings are often directed at something, and -ed adjectives usually pair with a specific preposition. These combinations are fixed — they have to be learned as a unit.
| ADJECTIVE | PREPOSITION | EXAMPLE |
|---|---|---|
| interested | in | interested in history |
| worried | about | worried about the exam |
| excited | about | excited about the trip |
| surprised | at / by | surprised by the result |
| disappointed | in / by | disappointed in the team |
| bored | with / by | bored with the routine |
| afraid | of | afraid of spiders |
| tired | of | tired of waiting |
A small warning: tired of and tired from mean different things. Tired of means you have had enough of something; tired from means something physically exhausted you. "Tired from the flight" and "tired of the flight" are not the same sentence.
Common mistakes
Confusing -ed and -ing
Applying -ed to things
Wrong preposition after -ed adjectives
Form errors