Two parallel adjective forms in English describe the same situation from two angles. -ing adjectives describe the thing or situation that causes a feeling: The presentation was boring (it caused boredom). -ed adjectives describe how a person feels as a result: She was bored during the presentation. The cause-and-effect logic — situation → feeling — anchors every pair: interesting / interested, exciting / excited, exhausting / exhausted, frustrating / frustrated, surprising / surprised, overwhelming / overwhelmed. The classic mistake: I am boring doesn’t mean “I feel bored” — it means “I cause boredom in other people”.
This worksheet builds B1 control of the -ed / -ing adjective contrast through workplace, learning, and everyday contexts.
What’s inside:
- Grammar Box with the cause/effect rule and a list of ten high-frequency pairs
- Multiple-choice: choose between -ed and -ing form based on who or what each sentence describes
- Personalised production: write three sentences using -ed forms about your own reactions, then three sentences using -ing forms about the situations
- Error correction: spot the I am boring fossil and other adjective-form mistakes
- Full Answer Key plus Teacher Notes on the embarrassment-of-error trap (I am boring / I am bored)
Common mistakes addressed: -ing used for personal feeling (I am exciting about the trip), -ed used for situation (The lecture was bored), and confusion between I am tired (state) and I was tired (past).
For: Adult and teenage learners (14+) at CEFR B1, in intermediate classes, 1:1 lessons, or self-study. The -ed / -ing contrast is a high-stakes B1/B2 marker in Cambridge B1 Preliminary (PET) and B2 First (FCE) Writing — a direct band-score discriminator. Part of the Adjectives & Adverbs collection — the natural sibling is Comparatives and Superlatives, which covers the parallel form-rule system for comparing adjectives.