Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • Bored vs. Boring: Active Sentence Describe Cause Describe Result

    Uploaded by

    Mr Robot
    48 views3 pages
    The document discusses the difference between the -ing and -ed forms of verbs that express emotions. The -ing form (e.g. boring) describes the cause of the emotion, while the -ed form (e.g. bored) describes the result. This is illustrated through examples showing that things can be described as boring but people can be bored. Tables list commonly used emotive verbs and their present and past participles.

    Original Description:

    Original Title

    Bored vs. Boring

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Report this Document
    The document discusses the difference between the -ing and -ed forms of verbs that express emotions. The -ing form (e.g. boring) describes the cause of the emotion, while the -ed form (e.g. bored) describes the result. This is illustrated through examples showing that things can be described as boring but people can be bored. Tables list commonly used emotive verbs and their present and past participles.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    48 views3 pages

    Bored vs. Boring: Active Sentence Describe Cause Describe Result

    Uploaded by

    Mr Robot
    The document discusses the difference between the -ing and -ed forms of verbs that express emotions. The -ing form (e.g. boring) describes the cause of the emotion, while the -ed form (e.g. bored) describes the result. This is illustrated through examples showing that things can be described as boring but people can be bored. Tables list commonly used emotive verbs and their present and past participles.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 3

    bored vs.

    boring Page 1 of 3

    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.

    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 Describe Describe


    Sentence Cause Result
    The movie was
    The movie bored me. I was bored.
    boring.

    The lecture interested The lecture was


    I was interested.
    me. interesting.

    The game was


    The game excited me. I was excited.
    exciting.

    The news alarmed The news was


    I was alarmed.
    me. alarming.

    The monster The monster was


    I was frightened.
    frightened me. frightening.

    The comedian The comedian was


    I was amused.
    amused me. amusing.

    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

    http://www.angelfire.com/wi3/englishcorner/grammar/rules/bored.html 7/12/2009
    bored vs. boring Page 2 of 3

    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

    http://www.angelfire.com/wi3/englishcorner/grammar/rules/bored.html 7/12/2009
    bored vs. boring Page 3 of 3

    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

    Back to Grammar Page

    http://www.angelfire.com/wi3/englishcorner/grammar/rules/bored.html 7/12/2009

    You might also like