-ing and -ed adjectives
Remember an adjective ending in -ing describes a situation and an adjective ending in -ed describes a feeling.
Here are some of the most common ones:
boring - bored
disappointing - disappointed
surprising- surprised
interesting - interested
exciting- excited
shocking - shocked
Same root, different meaning
Often the same root can be used to form adjectives with different meanings.
IMAGINE ---- imaginable, imaginative
The Guggenheim has some of the best art you can imagine.
= The Guggenheim has some of the best art imaginable.
He's an artist who is very good at using his imagination.
= He's a very imaginative artist.
GRATIFY --- gratifying, grateful
The suffix -ful is used to form adjectives from nouns eg. hopeful; it can also be added to Latin stems to make an adjective eg. 'grateful' is from the Latin word 'gratus’.
How many adjectives ending in -ful can you find in the dictionary?
'Gratifying' means to give pleasure or satisfaction. eg. My exam results were very gratifying.
Here are some more examples:
VARY --- varied, variable
CREDIT --- credulous, credible
ECONOMY --- economic, economical
CHANGE --- changing, changeable
VARY --- varying, variable
ADVISE --- advisable, advisory
COMFORT --- comfortable, comforting
CHILD --- childish, childlike
INFLUENCE --- influential,influenced
The root 'respect' can be used to make several adjectives:
respected, respectful, respectable and respective.
Like all vocabulary, seeing adjectives in context will help you understand their meanings and how they are used. Here are some news headlines containing these adjectives to help you work out their meaning
The world's most respected professions
Boris Johnson tells England fans to be respectful to players taking the knee
Local students gain recognition at respective colleges
Pfizer has Compensated Shareholders with A respectable 41% Return on Their Investment
So, you're going out again after lockdown? Do you remember how to look respectable?
High Level Adjectives for C1/C2
These are just a few examples of some adjectives you may come across at C1/C2. I have given you two synonyms for each to increase your vocabulary (I've used 'Lexico' by Oxford) but please use a dictionary to check their meanings. Perhaps learn five a week?
Adamant - unwavering, unswerving
Boorish - coarse, ill-mannered
Calamitous - disastrous, catastrophic
Defamatory - slanderous, scandalous
Efficacious - effective, worthwhile
Fastidious - scrupulous, pedantic
Insidious - stealthy, surreptitious
Loquacious - talkative, effusive
Petulant - peevish, bad-tempered
Querulous - testy, tetchy
Tenacious - persevering, persistent
Ubiquitous - omnipresent, pervasive
Zealous - ardent, impassioned