Adjectives: -ed and -ing; Gradable and Extreme Adjectives

• Use -ed adjectives to describe feelings and -ing adjectives to describe the things or people that cause those feelings. Gradable adjectives can be modified with 'very', while extreme adjectives already mean 'extremely' and take words like 'absolutely'.
• Type
• Usage
• Example
• -ed adjective
• How someone feels
• Sarah was exhausted after the long meeting in Chicago.
• -ing adjective
• The cause of the feeling
• The quarterly sales presentation in Seattle was exhausting.
• Gradable
• Normal scale of quality
• David is a very good manager at the Boston office.
• Extreme
• Absolute or maximum limit
• The new software system in Austin is absolutely brilliant.
• Remember
• Do not use 'very' with extreme adjectives like 'brilliant', 'useless', or 'furious'.
• Use 'absolutely' or 'utterly' with extreme adjectives.
• Remember that participial adjectives function just like regular descriptive words in sentences.
• Examples
• Mark felt frustrated by the slow internet connection in Denver.
• The new HR policy in Philadelphia is quite confusing.
• We were absolutely thrilled to win the contract in Atlanta.
• Common mistakes
• The financial report was very brilliant.
• The financial report was absolutely brilliant.
• Kevin was tiring after the flight to Miami.
• Kevin was tired after the flight to Miami.

Complete the sentences

• The technical support team in Dallas found the software glitch very (frustrate) ____ .
• Jessica was (exhaust) ____ after working late in New York.
• Our CEO gave an (inspire) ____ speech in San Francisco.
• Brian felt completely (bore) ____ during the long logistics seminar in Phoenix.
• The client in Portland was (thrill) ____ with our customer service.
• That new office assistant in Seattle is absolutely (use) ____ at filing.

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