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Unit 98 — Adjectives ending in -ing and -ed

(boring/bored etc.)


A. Adjectives ending in -ing and -ed

Many adjectives end in -ing and -ed, for example:

boring and bored

Study this example situation:

Jane has been doing the same job for a very long time. Every day she does exactly the same thing again and again. She doesn’t enjoy her job any more and would like to do something different.

Jane’s job is boring.

Jane is bored with her job.


Somebody is bored or gets bored if something (or somebody else) is boring.

If something is boring, you get bored with it.

So:

  • Jane is bored because her job is boring.

  • Jane’s job is boring, so Jane is bored. (not Jane is boring)

If a person is boring, this means that they make other people bored:

  • Paul always talks about the same things. He’s really boring.

1. -ing 和 -ed 形容词的核心区别

这一单元最重要的规则是:

-ing:描述造成某种感觉的人 / 事物

-ed:描述某人产生的感觉

可以简单理解为:

-ing → 让别人……的

-ed → 自己感到……的

例如:

The job is boring.

工作:

让人觉得无聊

所以:

boring = 令人无聊的


Jane is bored.

Jane:

自己感觉无聊

所以:

bored = 感到无聊的


2. boring 和 bored

boring

Jane’s job is boring.

意思:

Jane 的工作很无聊。

这里描述的是:

job

这个工作:

causes boredom 让人产生无聊的感觉

所以使用:

boring


bored

Jane is bored with her job.

意思:

Jane 对她的工作感到厌倦。

这里描述的是:

Jane 的感觉

所以使用:

bored


可以建立这个关系:

boring thing → bored person

例如:

The movie is boring.

I am bored.

电影令人无聊,所以我感到无聊。


3. 人也可以使用 -ing

不要简单记成:

❌ 物 → -ing ❌ 人 → -ed

真正的规则不是“人还是物”,而是:

制造感觉 → -ing

产生感觉 → -ed

所以人也完全可以使用 -ing

例如:

Paul is boring.

意思不是:

Paul 感到无聊。

而是:

Paul 让别人觉得无聊

例如:

Paul always talks about the same things. He’s really boring.

Paul 总是聊同样的事情。他这个人真的很无聊。


比较:

Paul is boring.

= Paul makes other people bored.

Paul 让别人无聊。


Paul is bored.

= Paul feels bored.

Paul 自己感到无聊。


4. 最容易犯的错误

如果你想说:

我很无聊 / 我感觉很无聊。

应该说:

I’m bored.

而不是:

❌ I’m boring.

因为:

I’m boring.

真正的意思是:

我这个人很无聊。 我让别人觉得无聊。


同样:

I’m interested in English.

= 我对英语感兴趣。

而:

I’m interesting.

= 我这个人很有趣。

两句话都正确,但意思完全不同。


B. Compare adjectives ending in -ing and -ed

Compare adjectives ending in -ing and -ed:

-ing adjectives

My job is:

  • boring
  • interesting
  • tiring
  • satisfying
  • depressing
  • etc.

In these examples, the -ing adjective tells you about the job.


-ed adjectives

  • I’m bored with my job.
  • I’m not interested in my job any more.
  • I get very tired doing my job.
  • I’m not satisfied with my job.
  • My job makes me depressed.
  • etc.

In these examples, the -ed adjective tells you how somebody feels about the job.


5. 常见的 -ing / -ed 形容词

-ing-ed中文
boringbored令人无聊的 / 感到无聊的
interestinginterested有趣的 / 感兴趣的
tiringtired令人疲惫的 / 感到疲惫的
satisfyingsatisfied令人满意的 / 感到满意的
depressingdepressed令人沮丧的 / 感到沮丧的
surprisingsurprised令人惊讶的 / 感到惊讶的
disappointingdisappointed令人失望的 / 感到失望的
shockingshocked令人震惊的 / 感到震惊的

核心规律始终一样:

-ing → cause(原因)

-ed → feeling(感觉)


6. interesting / interested

interesting

  • Julia thinks politics is interesting.

政治:

让 Julia 产生兴趣

所以:

interesting


  • Did you meet anyone interesting at the party?

你在聚会上遇到什么有趣的人了吗?

这里:

anyone interesting

表示:

一个让人觉得有趣的人


interested

  • Julia is interested in politics. (not interesting in politics)

意思:

Julia 对政治感兴趣。

Julia 是:

感受到兴趣的人

所以使用:

interested


  • Are you interested in buying a car? I’m trying to sell mine.

意思:

你有兴趣买车吗?我正打算卖掉我的车。


固定搭配

注意:

be interested in + noun / doing

例如:

I’m interested in English.

I’m interested in learning English.

Are you interested in buying a car?


7. surprising / surprised

surprising

  • It was surprising that he passed the exam.

意思:

他通过考试这件事令人惊讶。

这里描述的是:

the situation

它:

causes surprise

所以:

surprising


surprised

  • Everybody was surprised that he passed the exam.

意思:

所有人都对他通过考试感到惊讶。

这里描述的是:

everybody 的感觉

所以:

surprised


关系:

something surprising

somebody is surprised


8. disappointing / disappointed

disappointing

  • The movie was disappointing. We expected it to be better.

意思:

这部电影令人失望。我们原本以为它会更好。

电影:

causes disappointment

所以:

disappointing


disappointed

  • We were disappointed with the movie. We expected it to be better.

意思:

我们对这部电影感到失望。

这里描述:

our feeling

所以:

disappointed


关系:

The movie was disappointing.

We were disappointed.


9. shocking / shocked

shocking

  • The news was shocking.

意思:

这个消息令人震惊。

news:

causes shock

所以:

shocking


shocked

  • I was shocked when I heard the news.

意思:

当我听到这个消息时,我感到非常震惊。

I:

experienced the feeling

所以:

shocked


关系:

The news was shocking.

I was shocked.


10. 用“原因 → 感受”理解 -ing / -ed

这是这一单元非常重要的思维方式。

例如:

The movie is boring.

电影是:

原因

电影让我产生:

boredom

所以:

I am bored.


再例如:

English is interesting.

English:

原因

我产生:

interest

I am interested in English.


再例如:

The news was shocking.

news:

原因

我产生:

shock

I was shocked.


所以可以记成:

-ing → 原因 / 刺激源

-ed → 感受 / 接收者


11. 不要根据“主语是人还是物”判断

这是非常重要的。

错误的记忆方法:

❌ 人用 -ed ❌ 物用 -ing

因为人也可以制造某种感觉。

例如:

My teacher is interesting.

我的老师很有趣。

老师:

makes people interested

所以使用:

interesting


My teacher is interested in history.

我的老师对历史感兴趣。

老师:

feels interested

所以使用:

interested


再例如:

The speaker was boring.

演讲者很无聊。

= 他让别人觉得无聊。


The speaker was bored.

演讲者自己觉得无聊。


12. 一个主语可以同时使用 -ing 和 -ed

例如:

I’m bored.

我觉得无聊。

但是:

I’m boring.

我这个人让别人觉得无聊。


再例如:

She’s interested.

她感兴趣。

She’s interesting.

她很有趣。


所以不要看:

是不是人

而要看你想表达:

这个人制造感觉

还是:

这个人产生感觉


13. 和 Unit 97 的联系

Unit 97 学的是:

-ing → 主动

-ed / past participle → 被动

Unit 98 的思维其实很相似。

例如:

boring

可以理解成:

something causes boredom

某事物主动产生这种影响。


而:

bored

可以理解成:

somebody is affected by boredom

某人受到这种影响。

所以可以建立联系:

Unit 97

主动 → -ing

被动 → -ed

Unit 98

制造感觉 → -ing

感受到影响 → -ed

这两套规则背后的逻辑非常接近。


14. 常见搭配

bored

be bored with

  • I’m bored with my job.
  • He’s bored with the game.

interested

be interested in

  • I’m interested in English.
  • She’s interested in learning Chinese.

satisfied

be satisfied with

  • I’m satisfied with my job.
  • Are you satisfied with the result?

disappointed

be disappointed with

  • We were disappointed with the movie.
  • I’m disappointed with the result.

也经常可以看到:

be disappointed in / by / at

具体介词取决于语境。


surprised

be surprised at/by

  • I was surprised at the result.
  • I was surprised by the news.

也可以直接接从句:

I was surprised that he passed the exam.


15. 快速判断方法

遇到 -ing / -ed 不知道选哪个时,问自己:

“它是在制造这种感觉,还是在感受这种感觉?”

如果:

制造感觉

选择:

-ing

如果:

感受感觉

选择:

-ed


例如:

The lesson is ______. interesting / interested?

lesson:

让人产生兴趣

所以:

The lesson is interesting.


I’m ______ in the lesson. interesting / interested?

I:

感受到兴趣

所以:

I’m interested in the lesson.


16. 最终思维模型

不要死记:

人 = -ed 物 = -ing

而应该记:

-ing

造成感觉

something/somebody → feeling

例如:

The movie is boring.

The book is interesting.

The news is shocking.

The teacher is interesting.


-ed

感受到这种感觉

feeling → somebody

例如:

I’m bored.

I’m interested.

I’m shocked.

I’m surprised.


17. 一句话记忆

-ing = 让别人有这种感觉

-ed = 自己有这种感觉

例如:

The movie is boring, so I’m bored.

The book is interesting, so I’m interested.

The news is shocking, so I’m shocked.

The result is surprising, so I’m surprised.

最简单的箭头模型:

boring → bored

interesting → interested

surprising → surprised

disappointing → disappointed

shocking → shocked

也就是:

原因(-ing) → 人的感受(-ed)