Page 208 - English Grammar in Use

Unit
98 Adjectives ending in -ing and -ed (boring/bored etc.)

A Many adjectives end in -ing and -ed, for example: boring and bored.
Study this example situation:

Jane has been doing the same job for
bored
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.
boring

Somebody is bored or gets bored if something (or somebody else) is boring.
If something is boring, you get bored with it.
So:
Jane is bored because her job is boring.
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:
Paul always talks about the same things. He’s really boring.

B Compare adjectives ending in -ing and -ed:

⎫ boring I’m bored with my job.
⎪ interesting
⎪ I’m not interested in my job any more.
My job is ⎬ tiring I get very tired doing my job.
⎪
⎪ satisfying I’m not satisfied with my job.
⎭ depressing (etc.) My job makes me depressed. (etc.)
In these examples, the -ing adjective tells you In these examples, the -ed adjective tells you
about the job how somebody feels (about the job).

Compare these examples:

interesting interested
Julia thinks politics is interesting. Julia is interested in politics.
(not interesting in politics)
Did you meet anyone interesting at Are you interested in buying a car?
the party? I’m trying to sell mine.
surprising surprised
It was surprising that he passed the Everybody was surprised that he passed
exam. the exam.
disappointing disappointed
The movie was disappointing. We were disappointed with the movie.
We expected it to be better. We expected it to be better.
shocking shocked
The news was shocking. I was shocked when I heard the news.

196