English Grammar - Pre-Intermediate

-ing And -ed Adjectives


There are two types of adjectives in English.

"Active Adjectives" are those that end in -ing. Consider a television show which is boring. This TV show causes a feeling in us, who watch is.

"Passive Adjectives" are those that end in -ed. The TV show makes us feel bored. The TV show causes the feeling - we are the ones who have the feeling.

A laughing man - a man who is laughing.
An interesting book - a book that causes interest.
An amusing movie - a movie that is funny, causes amusement.

but...

A frightened cat - a cat who has fear of something else, frightened by something.
A surprised expression - on the face of a person who is surprised by something/someone.
A damaged car - the car has damage caused by something else: another car maybe, a criminal.

Enough

Enough can act as an adjective or adverb and also be used as a pronoun. Its position in the sentence is usually very important.

With adjectives and adverbs, it usually comes after the adjective:

Examples:

My horse isn't strong enough to pull that big tree.
That house is big enough for all of us. Let's buy it!
We didn't speak quickly enough in the oral exam and we both failed.

With nouns, "enough" comes before the noun:

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Examples:

Do we have enough apples for this apple pie recipe?
There aren't enough people here to start the meeting. We'll wait.

Look how "enough" can be used without nouns too, like a pronoun:

Example:

Jim: We need some mushrooms for the pizza.
Jane: Yes, we don't have enough.

Note: Be careful to pronounce this important word correctly. You should put the stress on the second syllable: e'nough.

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