'-Ed/-ing adjectives: Adjectives from verbs — Explanation

Practice -ed and -ing adjectives with B1 grammar exercises. Test your understanding with gap fill questions and clear explanations for learners.

-Ed and -Ing Adjectives Exercises

Adding -ed or -ing to a verb makes an adjective in English. These adjectives are very common at the B1 level and are often used in grammar tests. The main difference between -ed and -ing adjectives is what they talk about.

-Ing Adjectives

-ing adjectives describe things, situations, or people that make you feel a certain way.

Meaning

They talk about how something makes people feel.

Structure

verb + -ing → adjective

Examples

• The lesson was interesting.
• The movie is boring.
• It was a surprising result.

The lesson, movie, and result make the feeling in these sentences.

-Ed Adjectives

-Ed adjectives tell how someone feels because of something.

Meaning

They talk about how it feels, not what caused it.

Structure

verb + -ed → adjective

Examples

• I am interested in history.
• She felt bored during the movie.
• They were surprised by the news.

In this case, the adjectives tell us how people feel.

The main difference between -Ing and -Ed

Adjective Type	Describes	Example
-ing	The cause of the feeling	The story is exciting.
-ed	The person’s feeling	I am excited about the story.

A simple way to remember is

• -ing = the cause
• -ed = the feeling

Common Verb Pairs

Some verbs are very common in B1 exercises:

• interest → interesting / interested
• bore → boring / bored
• excite → exciting / excited
• tire → tiring / tired
• confuse → confusing / confused

Examples

• The instructions were confusing.
• I was confused by the instructions.

Why This Matters for Tests

-Ed and -ing adjectives are common in:

• Exercises to fill in the gaps
• Questions with more than one answer
• Tasks to fix sentences

Knowing the difference will help you avoid making very common mistakes at the B1 level.