Don't Make These Mistakes When Using English Adjectives!

There is a mistake that I make quite often

when I am speaking French,

and it makes me laugh at myself.

And I've noticed that people who are learning English,

people who are learning to speak English,

sometimes make the same mistake,

even though it's a different language.

And that mistake is this.

When they are using adjectives that end in -ed or -ing,

they choose the wrong one

and it can make for some humorous results.

I don't think people should laugh at people

who are learning English.

But certainly when I explain this to you,

you might laugh at yourself

when you realize what you are saying.

It's the difference between saying things like this.

I am terrified, which means you are scared,

or I am terrifying, which means you scare other people.

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Let's talk a little bit

about when you should use the adjectives

that I'm going to teach you in this lesson

that end in -ed versus the adjectives that end in -ing.

Let's use the adjectives bored and boring.

When we use the -ed version of the adjective,

we're talking about something we are feeling.

We are talking about an emotion.

If I say I'm bored, it means that I'm feeling bored.

I'm probably watching something or listening to something

that I don't find very interesting, and I am bored.

When we use the -ing versions of these adjectives,

we are talking about the characteristic

of something or someone.

So if I say I'm boring,

it means that I'm not very interesting.

It means that whatever I'm talking about

is actually causing other people to be bored.

So once again, we use the -ed version

to talk about a feeling or an emotion.

We use the -ing version to talk about a characteristic

of someone or something.

When I watch my favorite television show, I'm excited.

I am very happy and I have a lot of positive energy

when I watch my favorite TV show, I'm excited.

I want to be careful here though.

I don't want to say I'm exciting.

That means that when other people watch me,

they would be happy and have lots of positive energy.

And that's not what I'm trying to say.

If I did want to use the adjective exciting though,

I could use it to describe the television show.

I could say I'm excited to watch my favorite TV show

because my favorite TV show is exciting.

If someone starts talking about history, I'm interested.

I love learning about the past.

But if I had said I'm interesting,

it means that other people find me fascinating,

that people like watching me

because there's something interesting about me.

That has a completely different meaning.

Here is a sentence where I'll use

interested and interesting together.

I could say this.

When someone starts talking about history,

I'm interested because I think history is interesting.

Sometimes at work, I'm frustrated.

That means things aren't going well

and I'm getting a little bit upset.

I'm frustrated.

But if I was to say I'm frustrating,

it would mean that I bother other people.

It would mean that other people get annoyed with me.

It would mean that I am aggravating,

that I am not someone who is fun to work with.

So again, a completely different meaning.

So, here's a better sentence.

I could say this.

Sometimes at work, I'm frustrated

because the job I am doing is frustrating.

Sometimes when I read a story, I'm confused.

Sometimes it's hard to understand

what's happening in the story that I'm reading.

I'm confused.

But if I was to say, I'm confusing,

it would mean that other people

have trouble understanding me when I talk

or when I explain something.

Let's use both adjectives though in the same sentence.

I could say this.

Sometimes when I read a story,

I'm confused because the story is confusing.

When I watch a really good movie, I'm amused,

I'm entertained, I find it enjoyable.

But if I was to say I'm amusing,

it would mean that I'm acting in a way

that makes people smile and laugh.

Again, a completely different meaning.

I could say this though.

I could say, when I watch a movie, I am amused

because the movie is amusing.

Speaking of movies, sometimes I watch a movie

and it's not very good, and then I'm disappointed.

But if I was to say I'm disappointing,

it would mean that I'm not very good.

It would mean that other people are sad

when they have to hang around with me,

that I'm just not a very nice person to be with.

I'm disappointing.

Let's use both adjectives though in the same sentence.

We could say this.

Sometimes when I watch a movie,

I'm disappointed because the movie is disappointing.

When I make videos outside,

sometimes there's lots of traffic and I'm annoyed.

It bothers me because it's really loud

and there's just vehicles going by all the time

while I'm trying to make an English lesson.

But if I was to say, I'm annoying,

it would mean that other people don't like being around me,

that somehow I'm not a very nice person.

It would have a completely different meaning.

I could say this though.

I could say I'm annoyed because there's lots of traffic,

and the sound the traffic makes is annoying.

When I was younger, my friends took me to see a scary movie

and I don't like scary movies.

While I was watching the movie,

I could have said I'm frightened.

That means I was expressing

that I was feeling the emotion of fear.

If I had said, though, I'm frightening,

It would mean that other people would get afraid

when I was around, a completely different meaning.

If we wanted to use both these adjectives

in a sentence, though, I could say this.

I could say I'm frightened

because the movie is frightening.

At work, I have a lot of work to do,

and sometimes I'm overwhelmed.

There's too much work

and it feels like I'm never going to get it done.

I'm overwhelmed.

But if I was to say, I'm overwhelming,

it would mean that other people find me

to be a little bit much, we would say in English.

They would find me to be someone who talks too much

or someone who expects too much from them,

a completely different meaning.

But I could say this if I wanted to use both adjectives.

I could say I'm overwhelmed at work

because I find the project I'm working on is overwhelming.

When I'm done exercising, I'm exhausted.

I don't have any energy left when I'm done exercising.

I'm exhausted.

But if I was to say, I'm exhausting,

it would mean that when other people are with me,

I kind of steal their energy.

It's not a very nice thing to be exhausting

when you're around other people.

But again, if we wanted to use both words,

both adjectives in the same sentence, I could say this.

I'm exhausted when I'm done exercising

because exercising is exhausting.

When I look up at the night sky, I'm fascinated.

I love looking at the stars and the moon.

I'm fascinated when I look at the night sky.

But if I was to say, I'm fascinating,

it would mean that I think when I'm around other people,

they are in awe of me.

They just love watching what I do and seeing what I do.

I'm fascinating.

It's kind of an arrogant thing to say.

But let's use both adjectives in one sentence.

I could say this.

I'm fascinated by the night sky

because the stars are fascinating.

When I'm sure of something, I'm convinced.

I'm convinced that this pandemic will be over someday.

But if I was to say I'm convincing,

it means that I'm good at arguing with people

so that they eventually agree with me,

a completely different meaning.

So if I wanted to use both of these in the same sentence,

I could say this.

I'm convinced the pandemic will be over soon

because the news articles I've been reading

are very convincing.

Jen grows flowers on our farm,

and I'm amazed when she plants seeds in the ground

and eventually they grow

and they bloom into a beautiful flower.

I'm amazed.

But if I was to say I'm amazing,

it means that I think I'm just all that.

That's another way to say it in English.

It means that I think I'm just the coolest,

most awesome person in the world.

I'm amazing, obviously a completely different meaning.

But if I wanted to use both adjectives

in the same sentence, I could say this.

I'm amazed when a seed grows into a flower

because plants are amazing.

Hey, thank you so much for watching this lesson

on adjectives that end in -ed and -ing.

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And give me a thumbs up if this video helped you learn

just a little bit more English.

And if you have a little bit more time,

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