“Interested” or “Interesting”: What’s the Difference?

Table of Contents

• “Interested” and Other -ed Words

• “Interesting” and Other -ing Words

• ⚠️ A Common Mistake

• Practice Time

• Wrap-up

Many learners confuse words like:

• bored and boring

• excited and exciting

• interested and interesting

But here’s an easy way to remember the difference: think about the word tired.

“Interested” and Other -ed Words

“Tired” was probably one of the first -ed words you learned. We say “I’m tired”, not “I’m tiring,” right?

The same rule applies to interested.

👉 I’m interested in history.
👉 She’s interested in learning English.

-ed words describe how a person (or sometimes an animal) feels.

“Interesting” and Other -ing Words

On the other hand, -ing words describe the cause of that feeling.

👉 History is interesting.
👉 This book is really interesting.

If something makes you feel interested, then that thing is interesting.

⚠️ A Common Mistake

Some learners think you can only use -ed words for people and -ing words for things. But that’s not always true!

Look at this example:

• The teacher was interesting.

• The students were interested.

Even though the teacher is a person, we use interesting because the teacher is the cause of the feeling.

So don’t just ask, “Is it a person or a thing?” Instead, ask:

✅ Does this word describe the feeling itself? (use -ed)
✅ Does this word describe the cause of the feeling? (use -ing)

Practice Time

Let’s look at a few examples together:

1. This movie is so interesting. I was interested from beginning to end.
   🎬 (The movie is the cause, so it’s interesting. The person has the feeling, so they’re interested.)

2. He wasn’t interested in science until he found an interesting documentary.
   📺 (He has the feeling = interested. The documentary causes the feeling = interesting.)

3. I always feel interested when I join English classes. The lessons are motivating and interesting.
   📚 (The speaker = interested. The lessons = interesting.)

Wrap-up

Remember:

• -ed = describes the person with the feeling → I’m interested.

• -ing = describes the cause of the feeling → This class is interesting.

✨ If you want more practice, try making your own sentences using interested and interesting. Drop them in the comments below, and I’ll check them for you!