Participial Adjective (-ed)

• These are used in a slightly different way from normal adjectives. We usually use the past participle (ending in -ed) to talk about how someone feels:

• I was really bored during the flight (NOT: I was really boring during the flight).

• She's interested in history (NOT: She's really interesting in history).

• John's frightened of spiders (NOT: John's frightening of spiders).

Participial Adjective (-ing)

• We usually use the present participle (ending in -ing) to talk about the person, thing, or situation which has caused the feeling:

  
  

• It was such a long, boring flight (so I was bored).

• I read a really interesting book about history (so I was interested).

• Many people find spiders frightening (so they're frightened when they see spiders).

Be careful!

• 'I'm boring' is very different from 'I'm bored!

• 'I'm boring' means I cause other people to be bored. This is not good! Here are some examples of when one person causes a feeling in another person:

• I was talking to such a boring guy at the party. He talked about himself for an hour!