Adjectives that end in -ed (e.g. bored, interested) and adjectives that end in -ing (e.g. boring, interesting) are often confused.

Adjectives that end in -ed generally describe emotions – they tell us how people feel.

I was so bored in that lesson, I almost fell asleep.

He was surprised to see Helen after all those years.

She was really tired and went to bed early.

Adjectives that end in -ing generally describe the thing that causes the emotion – a boring lesson makes you feel bored.

Have you seen that film? It's really frightening.

I could listen to her for hours. She's so interesting.

I can't sleep! That noise is really annoying!

Here are some adjectives that can have both an -ed and an -ing form.

annoyed -annoying

bored - boring

confused - confusing

disappointed - disappointing

excited - exciting

frightened - frightening

interested - interesting

surprised - surprising

tired - tiring

worried - worrying