The Past Fill in each blank by putting the verb in ...



bored vs. boring

Most verbs which express emotions, such as to bore, may use either the present or the past participle as an adjective, but the meaning of the participles is different. The -ing form expresses the cause of the emotion, and the -ed form expresses the result.

Present participles (verb + ing) describe what something or somebody is.

Ted is an interesting person. (What kind of person? Interesting)

Past Participles (verb + ed) describe how someone feels

Mary is interested in English literature (How does she feel about English literature? Interested.)

Examples:

The movie was boring, so I was bored.

The movie was the cause of my emotion, so it is described with an -ing form. My emotion, the result, is described with an -ed form. The following table summarizes this.

|Active Sentence |Describe Cause |Describe Result |

|The movie bored me. |The movie was boring. |I was bored. |

|The lecture interested me. |The lecture was interesting. |I was interested. |

|The game excited me. |The game was exciting. |I was excited. |

|The news alarmed me. |The news was alarming. |I was alarmed. |

|The monster frightened me. |The monster was frightening. |I was frightened. |

|The comedian amused me. |The comedian was amusing. |I was amused. |

We can see from the examples that the -ing form refers to the subject of the active sentence, and the

-ed form refers to the object of the active sentence. In the first example, boring refers to movie (subject) and bored refers to me (object) in the active sentence.

We can also see that things can only be described with the -ing form because things cannot have emotions. People, on the other hand, can be described with either -ing or -ed forms because they can produce emotions in other people or experience emotions themselves.

Here is a table of the most common "emotive" verbs:

|Verb |Pres. Participle |Past Participle |

|aggravate |aggravating |aggravated |

|alarm |alarming |alarmed |

|amaze |amazing |amazed |

|amuse |amusing |amused |

|annoy |annoying |annoyed |

|appall |appalling |appalled |

|astonish |astonishing |astonished |

|astound |astounding |astounded |

|bewilder |bewildering |bewildered |

|bore |boring |bored |

|calm |calming |calmed |

|captivate |captivating |captivated |

|challenge |challenging |challenged |

|charm |charming |charmed |

|comfort |comforting |comforted |

|compel |compelling |compelled |

|confuse |confusing |confused |

|convince |convincing |convinced |

|depress |depressing |depressed |

|devastate |devastating |devastating |

|disappoint |disappointing |disappointed |

|disgust |disgusting |disgusted |

|distract |distracting |distracted |

|distress |distressing |distressed |

|disturb |disturbing |disturbed |

|embarrass |embarrassing |embarrassed |

|enchant |enchanting |enchanted |

|encourage |encouraging |encouraged |

|entertain |entertaining |entertained |

|excite |exciting |excited |

|frighten |frightening |frightened |

|humiliate |humiliating |humiliated |

|infuriate |infuriating |infuriated |

|inspire |inspiring |inspired |

|insult |insulting |insulted |

|interest |interesting |interested |

|intimidate |intimidating |intimidated |

|intrigue |intriguing |intrigued |

|mislead |misleading |misled |

|mystify |mystifying |mystified |

|overwhelm |overwhelming |overwhelmed |

|please |pleasing |pleased |

|puzzle |puzzling |puzzled |

|refresh |refreshing |refreshed |

|relax |relaxing |relaxed |

|reward |rewarding |rewarded |

|satisfy |satisfying |satisfied |

|shock |shocking |shocked |

|sicken |sickening |sickened |

|startle |startling |startled |

|surprise |surprising |surprised |

|tempt |tempting |tempted |

|terrify |terrifying |terrified |

|threaten |threatening |threatened |

|tire |tiring |tired |

|welcome |welcoming |welcomed |

|worry |worrying |worried |

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