English Time - Adjective ended with -ed

Adjectives ending in -ed/ past participle:

a smashed window.

a painted box.

a lost child

a surprised look

 These adjectives are used with a passive meaning. Something has been done to them (the window, the box) or something/someone has caused them to be in a certain state (the child, the look) or feel in a certain way. That is, the person or thing we are describing here is a'passive participant' in the action. They are not doing anything, but they are “done” something. So the adjectives smashed, painted , lost , surprised describe states or feelings as a result of something done – the window has been smashed, the box has been painted, child has been lost, the person was surprised so he gave/had a surprised a look.

Many ‘-ed’ adjectives describe people’s feelings. They have the same form as the past participle of a transitive verb and have a passive meaning. For example, ‘a frightened person’ is a person who has been frightened by something.

alarmed amused astonished bored delighted depressed disappointed excited frightened interested satisfied shocked surprised tired troubled worried

She looks alarmed about something.

A bored student complained to his teacher.

She had big blue frightened eyes.

Note that the past participles of irregular verbs do not end in ‘-ed’, but can be used as adjectives.

The bird had a broken wing.

His coat was dirty and torn.