Use -ed And -ing Adjectives Correctly

Verb forms ending in -ed and -ing can be used as adjectives. For example, the verbal adjectives cleaned and cleaning come from the verb to clean.

Example 1 (Verb):

• The woman cleans the car.

Example 2 (Adjective):

• The cleaning woman worked on the car.

Example 3 (Adjective):

• The woman put the cleaned car back in the garage.

In the first example, cleans is the verb of the sentence. In the second example, cleaning is a verbal adjective describing woman. In the third example, cleaned is a verbal adjective describing car.

Verbal adjectives ending in -ed and -ing can be confused in written expression questions on the TOEFL test.

• The cleaning* car...
• The cleaned* woman...

The difference between an -ed and an -ing adjective is similar to the difference between the active and the passive (see Skills 37 and 38). An -ing adjective (like the active) means that the noun it describes is doing the action. The above example about the cleaning car is not correct because a car cannot do the action of cleaning; you cannot say that a car cleans itself. An -ed adjective (like the passive) means that the noun it describes is receiving the action from the verb. The above example about the cleaned woman is not correct because in this example a woman does not receive the action of the verb clean; this sentence does not mean that someone cleaned the woman.

The following outlines the key information that you should remember about -ed and -ing adjectives.

-ED AND -ING ADJECTIVES

• TYPE: -ING
  • MEANING: active
  • USE: It does the action of the verb.
  • EXAMPLE: ...the happily playing children... (The children play.)
• TYPE: -ED
  • MEANING: passive
  • USE: It receives the action of the verb.
  • EXAMPLE: ...the frequently played record... (Someone plays the record.)