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Do you know the difference between confused and confusing? Enhance your knowledge with a lesson given below and the grammar explanation to guide you better.

Check out these examples to see how adjectives ending in -ed and -ing are used:

  • I felt really confused during the lesson.

  • That was a really confusing lesson.

Grammar explanation - Adjectives ending in '-ed' and '-ing'

Adjectives that end in -ed (e.g. bored, interested) and adjectives that end in -ing (e.g. boring, interesting) are often confused.

1. -ed adjectives

Adjectives that end in -ed describe emotions, expressing how someone feels.

  • She felt very annoyed when the meeting was delayed.

  • They were confusedby the instructions.

  • He was disappointedwhen his team lost the match.

2. -ing adjectives

Adjectives that end in -ing describe the cause of the emotion, such as an event or situation.

  • The book I’m reading is confusing, but I can't put it down.

  • That presentation was really disappointing.

  • The roller coaster ride was so exciting, I can't wait to try it again!

Here are some adjectives that have both -ed and -ing forms:

  • annoyed / annoying

  • bored / boring

  • confused / confusing

  • disappointed / disappointing

  • excited / exciting

  • frightened / frightening

  • interested / interesting

  • surprised / surprising

  • tired / tiring

  • worried / worrying

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