An -ing adjective describes the quality of a thing, person or situation (what it does): The guide’s story was fascinating. An -ed adjective describes the feeling a person has: We were fascinated. Pairs: bored/boring, interested/interesting, excited/exciting, tired/tiring, surprised/surprising, amazed/amazing. Quick rule: things are -ing, feelings are -ed. I was exhausted after the exhausting climb. Note the prepositions: fascinated by/with, interested in, bored with, surprised at/by. When you talk about historical places you can mix both: Visitors are amazed by the amazing tilework of the Registan in Samarkand.
Worked examples
The old city walls were impressive, and all of us felt amazed.
The long queue was tiring, so the children became bored.
Class activity
“Feeling or thing?”: the teacher reads a sentence (The lecture was bor_); students choose -ed or -ing and show it (raise a hand for -ing, stay seated for -ed).
Practice
1
Choose: The documentary about the Silk Road was (fascinated / fascinating).
fascinating
2
Choose: I was (interested / interesting) in the history of Khiva.
interested
3
Write two sentences about a trip: one with excited and one with exciting.
For example: The children were excited. The journey was exciting.
4
Explain why “The museum was bored” is wrong.
A museum cannot feel; we need the -ing adjective boring for a thing: The museum was boring.