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Interesting or Interested?
Dongdong Chen

If one observes native Chinese speaking English, it is not difficult to find they are much confused about the usage of the emotional adjectives like interesting and interested. Instead of saying “I am really interested in the movie", they would say “I am really interesting in the movie". You may wonder why there is such a confusion and how this could be avoided.

To elaborate on the differences between the -ing emotional adjectives vs. the -ed emotional adjectives requires a lengthy discussion. Also, putting aside the question why Chinese speakers of English tend to make such mistakes, here I am presenting a simple rule, based on my research, so as to help Chinese speakers with this particular phenomenon. If there is a causative meaning, it is safe to use the adjective in the form of -ing, i.e., interesting. In that case, the subject can either be animate (human) or inanimate (non-human). Only use the -ed form, i.e., interested, when not any causative connotation is involved, and the subject is always animate.

Please study the rule and do the quiz given below. I constructed the quiz for you to test your knowledge of this linguistic aspect. Under each sentence there are three statements. Please read the sentence and circle the statement that you believe is the most appropriate one. Note that each sentence has only one correct answer.

1. Everyone had to leave the room because the boy turned the TV up.
A. The boy was annoying.
B. The boy was nice.
C. The boy was annoyed.

2. The girl at the accident spot was afraid.
A. The girl was fearless.
B. The girl was terrified.
C. The girl was terrifying.

3. The tourist was happy with the sights of the New York city.
A. The tourist was unhappy.
B. The tourist was pleased.
C. The tourist was pleasing.

4. The opera of Romeo and Juliet was wonderful.
A. The opera was fascinated.
B. The opera was fascinating.
C. The opera was unimpressive.

5. The waiter provided good service and the customer was happy.
A. The waiter was impatient.
B. The waiter was pleased.
C. The waiter was pleasing.

6. The speaker told many jokes and all the listeners laughed.
A. The speaker was amused.
B. The speaker was dull.
C. The speaker was amusing.

7. The student was sad because he failed one course.
A. The student was glad.
B. The student was frustrated.
C. The student was frustrating.

8. The boy had a lot of fun at the show.
A. The boy did not enjoy the show.
B. The boy was amused.
C. The boy was amusing.

9. The power failure in the building was a nuisance.
A. The power failure was annoying.
B. The power failure was annoyed.
C. The power failure was wonderful.

10. The boy cried as soon as the dentist brought out the drill.
A. The dentist was pleasant.
B. The dentist was terrified.
C. The dentist was terrifying.

11. The economic outlook is very pessimistic.
A. The economic outlook is frustrated.
B. The economic outlook is frustrating.
C. The economic outlook is optimistic.

12. Tom got a bad grade and his mother was angry.
A. The mother was happy.
B. The mother was annoyed.
C. The mother was annoying.

13. John’s presentation at the conference was excellent.
A. The presentation was pleasing.
B. The presentation was pleased.
C. The presentation was terrible.

14. The singer sang so beautifully that the audience sang with him.
A. The singer was bad.
B. The singer was fascinated.
C. The singer was fascinating.

15. The teacher’s comments discouraged his students.
A. The teacher was helpful.
B. The teacher was frustrated.
C. The teacher was frustrating.

16. The movie about the clown was funny.
A. The movie was amusing.
B. The movie was amused.
C. The movie was serious.

17. The storm last night was scary.
A. The storm was terrifying.
B. The storm was terrified.
C. The storm was beautiful.

18. The audience at the circus show was very attentive.
A. The audience was fascinating.
B. The audience was indifferent.
C. The audience was fascinated.

Answers:
1. A 2. B 3. B 4. B 5. C 6. C 7. B 8. B 9. A 10. C 11. B 12. B 13.
A 14. C 15. C 16. A 17. A 18. C

Check out what you selected against the answers. If you got some wrong, please do not worry. It's normal for a non-native speaker to make mistakes when speaking/writing English. Simply study the above rule, think about it, and pay a special attention to the usage of the words in the future.
Dongdong Chen is ACPA Co-President. She can be reached at ddchen@optonine.net.