Adults|Grammar|Intermediate|44. Boring/bored
Read the rules
There are many adjectives ending in -ing and -ed, for example: boring and bored. Study this example situation:
 |
Jane has been doing the same job for a very long time. Every day she does exactly the same thing again and again. She doesn’t enjoy her job any more and would like to do something different.
Jane’s job is boring. Jane is bored (with her job). |
Somebody is bored if something (or somebody else) is boring. Or, if something is boring, it makes you bored. So:
1. Jane is bored because her job is boring.
2. Jane’s job is boring, so Jane is bored. (not Jane is boring)
If a person is boring, this means that they make other people bored:
✔️ George always talks about the same things. He’s really boring.
Compare adjectives ending in -ing and -ed:
| 1. My job is boring.
2. My job is interesting. 3. My job is tiring. 4. My job is satisfying. 5. My job is depressing. etc. |
1. I’m bored with my job.
2. I’m not interested in my job any more. 3. I get very tired doing my job. 4. I’m not satisfied with my job. 5. My job makes me depressed, etc. |
| In these examples, the -ing adjective tells you about the job. | In these examples, the -ed adjective tells you how somebody feels (about the job). |
Compare the examples:
| interesting
1. Julia thinks politics is interesting. 2. Did you meet anyone interesting at the party? |
interested
1. Julia is interested in politics. (not interesting in politics) 2. Are you interested in buying a car? I’m trying to sell mine. |
| surprising
It was surprising that he passed the exam. |
surprised
Everybody was surprised that he passed the exam. |
| disappointing
The film was disappointing. We expected it to be much better. |
disappointed
We were disappointed with the film. We expected it to be much better. |
| shocking
The news was shocking. |
shocked
I was shocked when I heard the news. |
Complete the sentences for each situation. Use the word in brackets + -ing or -ed
Choose the correct word
Complete each sentence using a word from the box
If you open the lesson plan you will be able to assign separate pages as homework or all the homework pages at once.
- Boring and bored
- The examples
- The film was disappointing
- Disappointing / disappointed
- He works very hard
- Homework