An interesting English Lesson

One of the most common mistakes made by students learning the English Language in Wall Street Institute is to confuse the ‘-ing’ and ‘-ed’ endings (interested, interesting, bored, boring). A very simple error that can be easily corrected.

The man is bored. (He is not having fun now).
The man is boring. (He is not fun to talk to. He is a dull person).

Mary is interested in sports. (She likes sports).
Mary is interesting. (She knows a lot and others enjoy her company).

ED adjectives describe how SOMEONE feels (bored, interested, excited).
ING adjectives (intersting, boring, exciting) cause someone to feel bored, interested or excited.

Be careful when speaking to other people; choose your words carefully.

Two people are watching a film together:

John: This film isn’t very good.
Susan: Are you boring?
John: Am I boring? I hope not! But the film is boring.
Susan: Oh I’m sorry, I mean; ‘Are you bored?’ I’m sure you’re a very interesting person, John.

1 - Words ending with a consonant-vowel-consonant pattern: hop, stop, rub...

a) One syllable words take a double consonant

ED endings: Hop - Hopped / Stop - Stopped
ING endings: Sit - Sitting / Rub - Rubbing

BUT... For words ending in the letters w, x, y and z simply add ED, or ING
snow > snowed
box > boxing
play > playing

b) Two syllable words: refer, begin, admit, permit... If the stress is on the first syllable, the word only gets one consonant + ED or + ING:

ED endings: Visit - Visited / Open - Opened
ING endings: Happen - Happening / Enter - Entering

c) If the stress is on the second syllable, the word gets a double consonant + ED or ING:

ED endings: Refer - Referred / Admit - Admitted
ING endings: Begin - Beginning / Permit / Permitting

2 - Words ending with the letter E: smile, dance, skate, fine...

If the word ends in E, simply add ED, or drop the ‘e’ and add ING:

ED endings: Smile - Smiled / Fine - Fined
ING endings: Dance - Dancing / Skate - Skating

3 - Words ending in Y: study, reply, marry, carry...

a) If the word ends in Y, and has a consonant before it, change the Y to I and add ED: Study - Studied or Marry - Married...

b) If the word ends in Y, and has a consonant before it, simply add ING: Carry - Carrying or Reply - Replying...

c) If the word ends in Y, and has a vowel before it, simply add ED: Play - Played or Stay - Stayed...

d) If the word ends in Y, and has a vowel before it, simply add ING: Enjoy - Enjoying or Stray - Straying...

4 - Words ending in two vowels and a consonant: dream, rain, need, sleep...

a) If the word ends in two vowels + a consonant, simply add ED: Dream - Dreamed / Rain - Rrained...

b) If the word ends in two vowels + a consonant, simply add ING: Need - Needing / Beep - Beeping...

5 - Words ending in a double consonant: park, earn, help, laugh...

a) If the word ends in a double consonant, simply add ED: Park - Parked / Earn - Earned...

b) If the word ends in a double consonant, simply add ING: Help - Helping / Laugh - Laughing

Lucy Helen Young (Teacher)
WallStreet
Tsuen Wan, HK