ADJECTIVES

Ending in ing and -ed

Boring and Bored
Jane has been doing the same job for a very
long time. Everyday she does exactly the same
thing again and again. She doesnt enjoy it
anymore and would like to do something
different.
Janes job is boring.
Jane is bored (with her job)
Someone is ed/ Something (or
someone) is -ing

Jane is bored because her job is boring.

Janes job is boring, so Jane is bored (not Jane
is boring)
Someone is interested because
something (or someone) is
interesting:

Tom is interested in politics (not interesting in
politics).
Tom finds politics interesting.
Are you interested in buying a car?
Did you meet anyone interesting at the party?

Someone is surprised because
something is surprising:

Everyone was surprised that he passed the
examination.

It was quite surprising that he passed the
examination.
Someone is disappointed because
something is disappointing:

I was disappointed with the film. I expected it
to be much better.

The film was disappointing. I expected it much
to be much better.
Someone is tired because something
is tiring:

He is always very tired when he gets home
from work.

He has a very tiring job.
Other pairs of adjectives ending in
ing and ed are:
Excite
Amuse
Annoy
Satisfy
Horrify
Terrify
Embarrass
Confused
Depress
Astonish
Fascinate
Amaze
Frighten
Shock
exhaust
Disgust
Worry


Adjectives: word order
Sometimes we use two or more adjectives
together:
1. Tom lives in a nice new house.
2. In the kitchen there was a beautiful large
round wooden table.

New/ large/ round/ wooden are fact
adjectives. They give us objective information
about something (age, size, colour, etc.).

Nice/ beautiful are opinion adjectives. They tell
us what someone thinks of something. Opinion
adjectives usually go before fact adjectives.

Other examples:
- An intelligent young girl.
- A delicious hot soup.
- A nice sunny day.
Adjectives of size and length (big/small/tall/
short/long etc.) usually go before adjectives
of shape and width
(round/fat/thin/slim/wide etc.)
A large round table.
A tall thin girl.
A long narrow street.
Adjectives after some verbs
Especially get/ be/ become
Are you tired? Be careful! Im getting hungry

We also use adjective after feel/ smell/ taste/
sound/ seem/ look.
Do you feel tired?
The dinner smells good.
Tom sounded angry when i spoke to him on the
phone.
But after other verbs you must use an adverb
- Drive carefully! (not drive careful)
- Susan plays the piano very well. (not plays ...
very good)
- Tom shouthed at me angrily (not shouted ...
angry)

We use an adjective after look: Tom looked sad
when I saw him.

We use an adverb after look at: Tom looked at me
sadly.
ADJECTIVE and ADVERB
An adjective tells us more about a noun. We
use adjectives before nouns and after a few
verbs (especially be)
- Tom is a careful driver.
- Be quiet, please!
- We didnt go out because of the heavy rain.
- I was disappointed that my exam results were
so bad.
An adverb tells us more about a verb. An adverb tell us
in what way someone does something or in what way
something happens.
- Tom drove carefully along the narrow road (not drove
careful)
- Speak quietly, please! (not speak quiet)
- We didnt go out because it was raining heavily (not
raining heavy)
- I was disappointed that I did so badly in the exam (not
did so bad)

Compare: she speaks perfect english (adj + noun)
She speaks English perfectly (verb + object +
adv)

Exercises
1. Do you easily get embarrassing/ embarrased?
2. The kitchen hadnt been cleaned for ages. It was
really disgusting/ disgusted.
3. An ring unusual gold
4. French interesting old an painting
5. A nose large red
6. This soup tastes nice/ nicely.
7. Please shut the door quiet/ quietly.
Exercises
1. I waited nervous in the waiting-room before
the interview.
2. Why were you so unfriendly when I saw you
yesterday?
3. It rained continuously for three days.
4. Sue is terrible upset about loosing her job.
5. I had little difficulty finding a flat. I found one
quite easy.