Participle Adjectives.

PARTICIPLE
ADJECTIVES

Participle Adjectives are quite confusing because they
appear to be verbs as they end in ...ED or ..ING.

The participles are two types. The present
participle, which ends in –ING, and the past
participle, which ends in -ED. In past
participle, some words also end in EN, N, D etc.,

annoying, amusing, boring,
depressing, exciting,
embarrassing, exciting,
-ING exasperating, frightening,
form fascinating, gratifying,
interesting, overwhelming,
misleading,
misunderstanding, relaxing,
satisfying, socking, thrilling,
time-consuming, worrying,

interested, amused, bored,
computerized, determined,
depressed, excited,
-ED embarrassed, excited,
form fascinated, overwhelmed,
misunderstood, relaxed,
satisfied, shocked, surprised,
terrified, talented, renowned,
self-centered, unknown

Present Participle (-ing) is used to describe something
or someone.

- I read an inspiring story about a great person.
- We really had an exciting journey last week.

Participle (-ed) is used to describe how people feel
about something or someone.

- I find him always in a relaxed mood.
- We are happy to see this computerized library.

Examples with -ING participle:

1. The children do not like boring stories.
2. It is quite embarrassing to stay here any further.
3. The court does not believe in misleading facts.
4. This is always a fascinating story.
5. It is time-consuming to refer to all those books to find out the
facts.

Examples with -ED participle:

1. Some people are self-centered. They never try to understand
others.
2. I have never seen a drunken monk?
3. They submitted a 100 pages written document of this case.
4. The confused participant decided to use a helpline.
5. Some people are self-centered. They never try to understand
others. 6. The children are fascinated to visit those picnic places.

Points to focus:

The common confusion with Participle Adjectives is that these are
basically verbs. So let us clearly understand how we use them as
adjectives and verbs.

· It is a shocking experience for me. (Adjective used attributively- no
object)
· This news is shocking all the people in the town. (As a verb with
object)

· I am surprised to see you here. (Adjective used predicatively- no
object)
· I am surprised by your sudden visit. (As a verb – with object)

Here are some examples of participles of verbs that can be used as
adjectives:

Root verb adjective "-ing" adjective "–ed"
(describing an effect) (present participle) (past participle)

bore boring bored
disappoint disappointing disappointed
disgust disgusting disgusted
embarrass embarrassing embarrassed
exhaust exhausting exhausted
excite exciting excited
interest interesting interested
satisfy satisfying satisfied
shock shocking shocked
surprise surprising surprised
tire tiring tired

Participle Adjectives 1

Choose the correct adjective:

1) My nephew was ___________ (amused / amusing) by the clown.

2) It's so ____________ (frustrated / frustrating) ! No matter how
much I study I can't seem to remember this vocabulary.

3) This lesson is so __________ (bored / boring).

4) I'm feeling _____________ (depressed / depressing) , so I'm going
to go home, eat some chocolate, and go to bed early with a good
book.

5) I thought her idea was absolutely ___________ (fascinated /
fascinating) .

6) This maths problem is so ___________ (confused / confusing) !
Can you help me?

7) The teacher was really _____________ (amused / amusing) , so
the lesson passed quickly.

8) The journey was ____________ (exhausted / exhausting) ! Twelve
hours by bus!
9) The plane began to move in a rather __________ (alarmed /
alarming) way.

10) He was ______________ (frightened / frightening) when he saw
the spider.

11) I was really _____________ (embarrassed / embarrassing) when I
fell over in the street.

12) That film was so ____________ (depressed / depressing) ! There
was no happy ending for any of the characters.

13) I'm sorry, I can't come tonight. I'm completely __________
(exhausted / exhausting).

14) We are going in a helicopter? How __________ (excited /
exciting)!

15) Don't show my baby photos to people, Mum! It's so
___________ (embarrassed / embarrassing).

16) It's okay, it's only me. Don't be __________ (alarmed / alarming).

17) My sister is so ___________ (excited / exciting) because she is
going on holiday tomorrow.

18) I hate long flights. I'm always really ________ (bored / boring).

19) She looked very ______________ (confused / confusing) when I
told her we had to change the plan.

20) John was ____________ (fascinated / fascinating) by Mandarin
when he first started learning languages. He decided to study more
and now he can speak it fluently.

Participle Adjectives 2

Choose the correct option for each sentence.

1. Her new girlfriend _______ him to write a new song. His girlfriend
was very ______.
a. inspired / inspired
b. inspiring / inspired
c. inspire / inpiring
d .inspired / inspiring

2. We were all ______ because the game was very _______.
a. bored / bored
b. boring / bored
c. bored / boring
d. boring / boring

3. Mum _______ me with a cup of chocolate. The chocolate was very
______.
a. comforted / comforted
b. comforted / comforting
c. comforting / comforted
d. comforting / comforting

4. I was rather ________ by what he said. His words were very
_______.
a. offended / offending
b. offended / offensive
c. offending / offended
d. offending / offensive

5. It _______ me to see my marks at the end of every term. They are
usually very _______ marks.
a. depressed / depressed
b. depresses / depressing
c. depresses / depressed
d. depressed / depressing

6. I was _______ to accept the job offer. The salary was very_______.
a. tempted / tempting
b. tempted / tempted
c. tempting / tempted
d. tempting / tempting

7. Losing the final was _______. The players were _______.
a. devastated / devastating
b. devastated / devastated
c. devastating / devastated
d. devastating / devastating

8. We were _______ to have Sam at home. He is such a _______
boy!
a. delighted / delightful
b. delighted / delighting
c. delighting / delighted
d. delightful / delighted

9. Her behaviour was really _______. Her teacher felt _______.
a. irritated / irritating
b. irritated / irritating
c. irritating / irritated
d. irritating / irritating

10. We were totally _______. His _______ words didn't make any
sense to us.
a. perplexed / perplexing
b. perplexed / preplexed
c. perplexing / perplexed
d. perplexing / perplexing







Use the participles in the box below to complete the sentences.

exciting shocking tiring amazing frightened endangered bored
shocked surprising tired amazed threatening burning boring
excited surprised upsetting frightening threatened burned/burnt
astounding

1. The __________________ news made her cry.
2. The __________________ three-hour class put me to sleep.
3. The panda is an ___________________ species.
4. The volcano made ____________________________ noises as it expelled
lava.
5. The __________________ student fell asleep while writing in her journal.
6. She was overjoyed by the __________________ news.
7. The children were ________________ after watching the dull movie.
8. Your decision is _____________________________. I was rather
_________________ by your choice.
9. After three hours in the ____________________ sun, the swimmers were
terribly sun______________.
10. I was so _______________________ I couldn’t speak.
11. She has shown ______________________ resilience in the face of her
difficulties.
12. The tourists were ________________ when they saw the huge waterfall.



Complete the sentences with the correct adjective from the root
verb in brackets:

 They enjoyed the film but the ending was . (shock)

 The results of the experiment led to some conclusions.
(interest)

 She worked until late last night. She was very this
morning. (tire)

 I left the party because I was . (bore)

Reference.

School Lead. (2020, Oct 21). Participle Adjectives.
https://www.schoollead.in/participle-

adjectives/?fbclid=IwAR1WafgRwq4pYVjBcGo05Ioe5bcska7BZSIizCln8bQBYHM
mumPC3ISisMI

Test-English. (2020, Oct 21). Participles as adjectives (-ed / -ing adjectives).
https://test-english.com/grammar-points/b1-b2/participle-adjectives/

Seonaid. (2020, Oct 21). Participle Adjectives Exercise 1(-ED and –ING
Adjectives). perfect-english-grammar. https://www.perfect-english-
grammar.com/participle-adjectives-exercise-1.html

Dobie, R. (2020, Oct 21). Quality ESL grammar worksheets, quizzes and games -
from A to Z - for teachers & learners PARTICIPLE ADJECTIVES: '-ed' and '-
ing'. All Things Grammar. https://www.allthingsgrammar.com/participle-
adjectives--ed-vs--ing.html

Georgebrow College. (2020,Oct 21). Participle Adjectives – Practice.
https://www.georgebrown.ca/

PhilipR. (2020, Oct 21). Grammar Meets Conversation: -ING vs -ED Adjectives
(5) - Asking about Experiences and Opinions. Islcollective.
https://en.islcollective.com/english-esl-
worksheets/grammar/adjectives/grammar-meets-conversation-ing-vs-ed-
adjectives-5-asking-abo/3003

businessenglish.com. (2020, Oct 21). Adjectives: ed or ing.
https://www.businessenglish.com/grammar/adjectives-ending-in-ed-or-
ing.html?lang=eng