English Practice

Lesson 3 of 4 · 10 min · +40 XP

Describe people and things with participles

Use participles as adjectives and distinguish meanings such as interested and interesting.

Every little practice counts

Level 1 0 XP

0 / 200 XP
0 day streak Best: 0 days
  1. Wed, Oct 28: no completion
  2. Thu, Oct 29: no completion
  3. Fri, Oct 30: no completion
  4. Sat, Oct 31: no completion
  5. Sun, Nov 1: no completion
  6. Mon, Nov 2: no completion
  7. Tue, Nov 3: no completion
0 lessons complete 0 daily challenges solved Make today count →
Your badges & how to earn XP
  • ○ First step Complete your first lesson or daily challenge. Keep going
  • ○ Week in motion Practise on seven consecutive UTC days. Keep going
  • ○ Course finisher Complete every lesson in any course. Keep going
  • ○ Four-skill explorer Complete an IELTS lesson in listening, reading, speaking, and writing. Keep going

Earn 40 XP for each new lesson, 100 bonus XP for finishing a course, and 15 XP for solving the daily question. Finish a new lesson or daily question to build your streak. Days reset at 00:00 UTC. XP levels track practice, not IELTS bands.

Progress belongs to this browser session and expires with it. Keep using the same browser to continue your journey.

Give a noun a useful description

Participles can work as adjectives: a smiling child, a damaged box, a written invitation. A description can also follow the noun, as in 'the guests waiting outside' or 'the invitation written by Noor'. Keep the description close to the noun it belongs to.

Distinguish a feeling from its cause

With pairs such as interested/interesting and excited/exciting, the -ed adjective describes the feeling and the -ing adjective describes what causes it. 'I was interested in the talk' describes my response. 'The speaker was interesting' describes the speaker's effect on listeners. People can cause feelings too, so -ing adjectives can describe people.

Use meaning, not only the ending

The feeling/cause pattern applies to those adjective pairs, not to every participle. A broken window has no emotion. A running engine describes an activity; a repaired engine describes the result of a repair. Ask what you want the reader to understand about the noun.

See it in practice

Starting point

I enjoyed the talk, but I described my reaction by saying, 'I was very interesting.'

Using this skill

I was very interested in the talk. The speaker gave an interesting explanation of the photographs displayed behind her.

Interested describes the listener's reaction; interesting describes the explanation's effect. Displayed tells us which photographs the writer means.

01 / Check your understanding

Try the skill

Choose an answer for each question. You can try again after reading the feedback.

1. Choose the adjective that describes Noor's reaction: 'The unexpected ending made Noor feel ___.'
2. What does 'an inspiring teacher' mean?

02 / Put it into words

Make it your own

Describe a class, event, or visit. Use a feeling/cause pair such as interested/interesting, and add a participle description of a thing, such as 'a written note' or 'the pictures displayed near the door'.

Write at least 25 words. Use the checklist and example to review your work; this exercise does not give an automatic IELTS score.

0 / 25 words minimum Save your response with the button below.

Before you finish

  • My feeling adjective describes the person experiencing the feeling.
  • My -ing adjective identifies what causes the feeling.
  • My other participle description belongs clearly to its noun.
Read one possible response

Compare the choices this writer made with your own. Many different responses can work.

I was interested in the artist's explanation of her work. Her interesting stories helped me understand the paintings displayed near the entrance. I kept the written guide so I could read more at home.

Earn 40 XP once by answering all questions correctly, reaching the response minimum, and reviewing your work.