Diferencia entre adjetivos terminados en -ed y -ing

Understanding the difference between adjectives ending in -ed and -ing is one of the most important steps to sounding natural in English. These two forms may look similar, but they serve very different purposes, and mixing them up is one of the most common mistakes learners make.

What do adjectives ending in -ed describe?

Adjectives ending in -ed generally describe emotions — they tell us how people feel [0:24]. Because they express feelings, they are used with living beings, especially people.

For example: "My family is excited about our trip to Australia." [0:48] Here, the word excited describes how the family feels. The emotion belongs to the people.

Some of the most common -ed adjectives include:

• Tired.
• Worried.
• Surprised.
• Interested.
• Confused.
• Bored.
• Annoyed.
• Disappointed.
• Frightened.

In practice, you match these adjectives with the person experiencing the emotion. For instance, "He is worried about the project" [1:38] describes the man's feeling, while "She is interested in the blog article" [1:50] tells us how the woman feels about what she is reading.

What do adjectives ending in -ing describe?

Adjectives ending in -ing work differently: they describe the thing that causes the emotion [2:10]. Instead of expressing how someone feels, they characterize the object, place, or situation that produces that feeling.

Compare these two sentences:

• "My family was excited about our trip to Australia." → how the family feels.
• "Australia is an exciting place." → what makes Australia special [2:28].

The key idea is that places, objects, and situations cannot feel emotions, so you use -ing to describe them [2:44].

Common -ing adjectives include:

• Tiring.
• Worrying.
• Surprising.
• Interesting.
• Confusing.
• Boring.
• Annoying.
• Disappointing.
• Frightening.

How do you choose the right form?

Ask yourself one simple question: am I talking about a person's feeling, or about the thing that creates the feeling?

• "The movie is interesting" [3:25] — the movie causes the emotion.
• "The TV show is boring" [3:38] — the show causes boredom.
• "She was surprised to receive my phone call" [4:06] — the person felt surprise.
• "The email was very confusing" [4:24] — the email caused confusion.

Notice the pattern: -ed goes with people, -ing goes with things.

How does this work in real context?

Rose's experience traveling through Thailand [4:48] is a perfect example of both forms working together:

• She felt excited to visit the elephant sanctuary — her emotion.
• She felt amazed to see the elephants — her reaction.
• The elephants were fascinating giants — describing what caused amazement.
• The temples in Chiang Mai had interesting architecture — describing the thing.
• She felt inspired to learn about Thailand's culture — her feeling.
• The mountain ecosystem was breathtaking — describing the place.
• The air was refreshing and the experience was relaxing — both describe the thing causing the feeling.
• She is thrilled to continue — her emotion.

This real-world example shows how -ed and -ing adjectives often appear together in natural speech. The person uses -ed forms to express internal emotions and -ing forms to characterize external experiences.

Can you practice with Rose's trip?

Try describing the three places Rose visited — the elephant sanctuary, the temples, and the mountains — using both adjective forms. For each place, write one sentence about how Rose felt (using -ed) and one sentence about what the place was like (using -ing). Share your answers and keep practicing until the distinction becomes automatic.