Grammar Challenge: -ed & -ing adjectives

Hello, Catherine here from BBC Learning English.

Just so you know, this programme is from the BBC Learning English archive

and was first broadcast in 2008 on our website.

And now, on with the show.

Welcome to Grammar Challenge from BBC Learning English dot com.

Let's meet this week's challenger.

My name is Deniz.

Grammar is, for me, little bit difficult,

because I'm from Turkey.

Turkish grammar is different to English grammar.

Deniz, do you like films?

Actually, I don't like films.

When I am free, I am reading books, not watching TV.

Right now, we're going to listen to a short audio clip.

Mark is talking about a film that he saw last night and, as you listen,

try to hear whether Mark enjoyed the film that he saw last night.

OK.

I watched that film on television last night and it was really boring.

I was just bored by it.

Did Mark like the film that he saw last night?

No, he didn't like.

He said it's very boring.

Well, let's go over now to our grammar expert, Catherine,

and we'll find out whether or not you're right

and we'll also find out a little bit about this week's grammar point. OK?

Hi, Deniz! Mark didn’t like the film.

He used the words 'boring' and 'bored'.

We use –ing or 'ing' adjectives to give more information about things.

So, if we go to see a really dull film, and nothing much happens,

and the film even makes me feel quite sleepy,

I can say that the film was boring.

I use an –ing adjective — boring — to describe the film.

Let's listen to Mark.

I watched that film on television last night.

It was really boring. I was just bored by it.

He uses the –ing adjective to describe the film.

It was really boring.

But if I want to talk about my feelings about the film, how the film affected me,

I use an –ed or 'ed' adjective — I was bored.

Here's Mark again.

I was just bored by it.

He uses the –ed adjective to describe his feelings about the film.

I was just bored by it.

So, it's –ing adjectives for other things, and –ed adjectives for my feelings.

The film was boring, and I was bored.

Now there are only a certain number of adjectives that work like this.

The most common ones are bored / boring,

excited / exciting,

interested / interesting,

embarrassed / embarrassing,

tired / tiring,

shocked / shocking,

annoyed / annoying,

frightened / frightening

and finally worried / worrying.

That's all from me. Good luck with your grammar challenge!

How do you feel? Do you feel like you're ready for the grammar challenge?

Yes.

I'm going to say a sentence to you, Deniz,

and I want you to make up a sentence

using one of the adjectives that Catherine mentioned in her, in her piece.

And, for those of you that are listening at home,

remember that you can do the grammar challenge along with Deniz.

OK, Deniz.

Yesterday at school, the teacher talked and talked and talked and talked

and talked and talked for hours and hours and hours

about a topic I didn't care about.

Can you make a sentence?

— I studied English yesterday. — Mm-hm.

It was very boring.

— Brilliant. — Yes.

And can you think of another way of saying that?

I was really bored.

Perfect. Let's go onto the next one.

Yesterday, I saw a wildlife programme on TV.

It showed where the animals lived, what they ate,

how they looked after their babies.

There were lots and lots of things that I never knew before.

What could you say?

I watched the TV yesterday.

Mm-hm.

I was really worried.

Worried? About what? About the animals?

And was... Yes.

— I watched TV yesterday. — Mm-hm.

It was really interested.

Again? I was...

I was... I was really interested.

Or it was really interesting.

Perfect, Deniz, yeah. Last one, OK?

Every time I call the office,

they put me on hold and I have to listen to this stupid music for hours and hours.

And, every few minutes, I get a recorded message

telling me I'm an important customer.

— I called the company... — Mm-hm.

— ..but nobody answered me. — Mm-hm.

I was really annoyed.

Perfect. I was really annoyed.

I was really annoyed or it was really annoying.

Perfect. Deniz, you did really, really well at that.

Well done.

And our next exciting and interesting

and not at all boring episode of Grammar Challenge

will be on things in the past that we wish we hadn't done.

BBC Learning English dot com.