Participles in English Used as adjectives

Participles used as adjectives

 Both present participles (ing) and past participles (ed) can be used as adjectives. Care must be taken not to confuse them. Present participle adjectives, amusing, boring, tiring etc., are active and mean ‘having this effect’. Past participle adjectives, amused, horrified, tired etc., are passive and mean ‘affected in this way’.

  • The play was boring. (The audience was bored.)
  • The work was tiring. (The workers were soon tired.)
  • The scene was horrifying. (The spectators were horrified.)
  • an infuriating woman (She made us furious.)
  •  an infuriated woman (Something had made her furious.)

 (C)Agreement

Adjectives in English have the same form for singular and plural, masculine and feminine nouns:

a good boy,     good boys                      a good girl,   good girls

The only exceptions are the demonstrative adjectives this and that, which change to these and those before plural nouns:

this cat, these cats                  that man, those men

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