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Hello and welcome to 6 Minute Vocabulary.
I'm Finn. And I'm Catherine.
In today's programme, we're going to look at –ing and –ed adjectives.
So, if you're interested in vocabulary but you find some adjectives confusing, Keep listening.
Yes, keep listening and it's On With The Show.
And I must say, Finn, you're looking very relaxed today.
Oh, really? Well, maybe that's because I was on holiday last week.
Yes, it was very relaxing.
Speaking of holidays, here are two people who had a bad time on holiday.
What went wrong? The train was horrible.
Big gangs of teenagers playing music on their phones.
I got really annoyed.
The flight was delayed and we had ten really boring hours in the airport with nothing to do.
Not much fun, eh? So, the man was annoyed, or angry, about teenagers playing music.
And the woman had a long and boring wait in the airport.
So, let's have a closer look.
Here's the woman again.
The flight was delayed and we had ten really boring hours in the airport with nothing to do.
Now adjectives ending in ing, like boring, usually describe things or events that make us have a particular feeling.
That's right. And in the example, boring describes all those hours and hours in the airport.
Ten long, boring hours.
Sound familiar, Finn?
That sounds very familiar, yes.
Yes. And there are lots of –ing adjectives we can use to describe things or events.
We can talk about a confusing problem, a surprising piece of news or an exciting film with lots of action.
Finn, what is the most exciting film you have ever seen?
So many exciting films.
The first one that I can think of is Gravity.
Oh yes. In Space. Very exciting.
OK Catherine, what is your idea of a relaxing holiday?
Now you're talking.
I do like to be beside the seaside, Finn.
Oh, very good. Yes.
Let's look at ed adjectives.
We're going to hear from a woman who got a very cheap holiday.
What ed adjective does she use?
We got a great deal.
I was surprised at how cheap it was.
We use ed adjectives to say how we feel about something.
In the example, the adjective surprised describes how the woman feels about the prize.
I was surprised at how cheap it was.
She didn't expect it to be so cheap.
That's right. If I say I get annoyed by loud music, the word annoyed describes my feelings about the music.
The music is annoying and I feel annoyed.
And if I say long lectures make me bored, the word bored describes my feelings about the lecture.
The lecture's boring and I feel bored.
So, Finn, what makes you bored?
Nothing. I never feel bored.
Yes, you do. OK. When I'm travelling to work, a long commute is very boring and it makes me feel bored.
Me too. And a word of warning here – don't confuse bored and boring.
because if you say, I'm very boring, you're actually saying that you make other people feel bored.
Oh, and you don't want that.
And it's time for a quiz.
Listen to these sentences and choose whether they need an ING or ED adjective?
Catherine will tell you the answers.
OK, ready, number one.
I enjoy taking long, hot baths.
They make me feel really a.
Relaxed or b. Relaxing.
Now, Finn, you're describing your feeling, so it's a.
Relaxed. That's right.
They make me relaxed.
Now, number two. The discovery of life on Mars would be a.
Surprised or b. Surprising.
And this time we're talking about a discovery, which is a thing, so it's b.
Surprising. And the last one.
Those students are very a.
Annoying or b. Annoyed.
And this one is a trick question because both of them are possible.
Those students are very annoying is correct if we're describing the students.
But those students are very annoyed is what we say when we're talking about the students' feelings.
That's right. Both are possible.
And that brings us almost to the end of the show.
But before we go, here's today's top tip for learning vocabulary.
– ing and – ed adjectives are easy to confuse, so write down pairs of example sentences in your notebook.
Very good. And remember, there's more about this at bbclearningenglish .com.
Join us again for more 6 -Minute Vocabulary.
Bye! Bye!
