Adjectives: -ed vs. -ing & Gradable vs. Extreme Adjectives

• We use -ed adjectives to describe how a person feels, while -ing adjectives describe the situation or thing that causes that feeling. In addition, English adjectives are either gradable (can be measured on a scale) or extreme (representing the limit of a scale), and they require different modifiers.
• Gradable Adjective
• Modifier + Gradable
• Extreme Adjective
• Modifier + Extreme
• tired
• very tired
• exhausted
• absolutely exhausted
• angry
• extremely angry
• furious
• completely furious
• happy
• really happy
• thrilled
• absolutely thrilled
• worried
• a bit worried
• stressed out
• totally stressed out
• annoyed
• quite annoyed
• livid
• absolutely livid
• Remember
• Use -ed adjectives to describe a person's emotions or feelings (e.g., 'The driver is exhausted').
• Use -ing adjectives to describe the situation, person, or thing that causes the emotion (e.g., 'The night shift is exhausting').
• Do not use 'very' or 'extremely' with extreme adjectives; instead, use 'absolutely', 'completely', or 'totally'.
• You can use 'really' with both gradable and extreme adjectives (e.g., 'really tired' / 'really exhausted').
• Examples
• Molly was very annoyed because the receiver in Denver was late.
• The driver called after-hours and was absolutely furious about the delay.
• It was a really frustrating situation for the fleet coordinator in Chicago.
• Common mistakes
• Tyler was very exhausted after driving all night from Seattle.
• Tyler was absolutely exhausted after driving all night from Seattle.
• The long delay at the warehouse was very frustrated.
• The long delay at the warehouse was very frustrating.

Complete the sentences

• Molly is very (interest) ____ in finding a new shipper in Atlanta.
• The night dispatch work in Boston is extremely (tire) ____ for new coordinators.
• After waiting for six hours in Denver, the driver was absolutely (furious) ____ .
• Our dispatch team in Houston was highly (motivate) ____ by the safety bonus.
• The delay at the New York port was very (annoy) ____ .
• We were absolutely (thrill) ____ to get the new contract with Walmart.

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