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.
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 Participleaggravate / 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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