bored or boring?
-ed and -ing adjectives
-ed = how a person feels (I'm bored, she was interested); -ing = what makes them feel it (the film is boring, an interesting talk).
- I'm bored.
- This film is boring.
- She was interested in the talk.
In Spanish «aburrido» does both jobs (estoy aburrido, es aburrido); in English they are two words: I'm bored, it's boring.
I'm boring means other people find you boring!
Also on this page: interested in · find it + -ing · tired or tiring
Try 6
Six quick questions, easiest first. At the end you'll see which mistake you make.
- Mia was ______ with her exam results, so she smiled all day.pleasant · pleased · please · pleasing
- I find it really ______ when people don't listen to me.frustrate · frustration · frustrated · frustrating
- After an hour of trying, I felt ______ with the puzzle.frustrate · frustration · frustrating · frustrated
- I was really ______ when my train was cancelled again.annoyed · annoy · annoying
- It was a ______ film, so my little brother stayed awake all night.frightening · fright · frightened
- Tom found the training course so ______ that he almost dropped out.tiredly · tire · tiring · tired
- I was really ______ in the career talk that the graduates gave.interested · interesting
- The manager gave us some really ______ ideas about our careers.interesting · interested
- Shoppers were ______ to find that the discount had ended the day before.disappointment · disappointing · disappoint · disappointed
- Lena was very ______ with her new flat because it was bright and quiet.satisfy · satisfying · satisfaction · satisfied
- It was an ______ mistake, but my manager was very kind about it.embarrassing · embarrassed
- Working two jobs at once can be very ______ and may make you burn out.exhaustive · exhaust · exhausted · exhausting
Show the answers
- pleasednot please: the noun or the verb instead of the adjectivenot pleasing: -ing for how you feel
- frustratingnot frustrate: the noun or the verb instead of the adjectivenot frustrated: -ed for the thing that causes the feelingnot frustration: the noun or the verb instead of the adjective
- frustratednot frustrate: the noun or the verb instead of the adjectivenot frustrating: -ing for how you feelnot frustration: the noun or the verb instead of the adjective
- annoyednot annoy: the noun or the verb instead of the adjectivenot annoying: -ing for how you feel
- frighteningnot fright: the noun or the verb instead of the adjectivenot frightened: -ed for the thing that causes the feeling
- tiringnot tire: the noun or the verb instead of the adjectivenot tired: -ed for the thing that causes the feelingnot tiredly: the noun or the verb instead of the adjective
- interestednot interesting: -ing for how you feel
- interestingnot interested: -ed for the thing that causes the feeling
- disappointednot disappoint: the noun or the verb instead of the adjectivenot disappointing: -ing for how you feelnot disappointment: the noun or the verb instead of the adjective
- satisfiednot satisfy: the noun or the verb instead of the adjectivenot satisfying: -ing for how you feelnot satisfaction: the noun or the verb instead of the adjective
- embarrassingnot embarrassed: -ed for the thing that causes the feeling
- exhaustingnot exhaust: the noun or the verb instead of the adjectivenot exhausted: -ed for the thing that causes the feeling
Common mistakes on this point
Not: I'm boring because the film is so long.
Say: I'm bored because the film is so long.
How a person feels takes -ed: bored, interested, annoyed, pleased.
See this mistake on its own page ›Not: It was a frightened film.
Say: It was a frightening film.
The thing or situation that makes you feel it takes -ing: a frightening film, a boring talk.
See this mistake on its own page ›Not: I was very please with it.
Say: I was very pleased with it.
Here you need the adjective (pleased), not the verb (please) or the noun: I was very pleased, I feel frustrated.
See this mistake on its own page ›