Present and Past Participle as Adjectives

Participles :

1.     End  with -ing

2.     End with -ed

Infinitive	Past	Present Participle	Past Participle
bore	bored	boring	bored
interest	interested	interesting	interested

  

Participles are used for four main purposes:

•      As the main verb in tenses.

•      As adjectives to describe a noun.

•      As adverbs to describe how something is done.

•      In phrases that look like clauses combined to provide additional, defining information.

1. PRESENT  PARTICIPLE as ADJECTIVE

A present participle adjective: is formed from a verb using the present participle or "ing" form of the verb

Note: when adding "ing" to the verb it is sometimes necessary to double the final consonant compel – compelling.

Examples of present participle  adjectives :

• The boring teacher.
• The confusing class. (the class is difficult to understand)
• The following words are present participle adjectives
• verb - present participle - past participle
• aggravate - 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

- The -ing form of the verb expresses the cause of the feeling. 
- The -ed form of the verb expresses the result. 
- In the case of the verb "to bore" Akira said she is BORING which means Akira is actually BORING and not the class. 
- Akira should say because this class is BORING, I am BORED, or simply I am BORED. 
- The class is the cause of her feeling, so it is described with an -ing form, in this case BORING. 
- Her feeling, or the result, is described with an -ed form, in this case BORED. 
- Basically you should remember that things can only be described with the -ing form because things cannot produce feelings. 
- People can be described with either the -ing or -ed forms because they can produce feelings in other people or experience feelings themselves. 

2. PAST  PARTICIPLE as ADJECTIVE

Past Participle Adjectives are passive and mean ’effected in this way’ by adding “ed”, for examples:

Amuse – amused

Confuse – confused

Interest – interested

Bore – bored

Tire – tired    

The present and past participles can be used as adjectives. When used in this way, they are sometimes called participial adjectives and the present participle has an active meaning, while the past participle usually has a passive meaning. They can occur:

• in an attributive position before nouns:

The survey revealed some worrying results. (present participle)
The wind was blowing through the broken living room window. (past participle)

• in a predicative position after a linking verb:

The results of the survey were/seemed worrying.
The living room window was/looked broken.

In the second case above the present and past participles function as adjectives that express states and describe the subject of the sentence. But if they come after be and are followed by an object or an adjunct, they function as part of a verb phrase and express actions:

The results of the survey were worrying the authorities. (past continuous active)
The living room window was broken by the burglar. (past simple passive)

When used as adjectives, some past participles have an active meaning:

The fallen leaves covered the path. (The leaves that had fallen covered the path.)
My parents are retired now. (My parents have retired.)