Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[ivygreen]

Could you tell me which is proper to use "surprised" or "surprising" for the sentence below. And tell me that reason,too.

"I found it ( ) that he didn't know her name."

[cgage2]

"Surprising" is an adjective that modifies "it".
Surprising is the right choice.

"surprised'" is the past tense of the verb surprise

[ivygreen]

Thank you for teaching me the answer. I think "surprised" also can use as an adjective.
How about this case. Which is good to use "surprised" or "surprising"?
How can I distinguish to use them as adjective? Please teach me.

" She looked () when I told him."

[CP]

The person who reacts to the stimulus is surprised. The person or event that has the effect on the surprised person is surprising.

Mary decided to throw a surprise party for Tom's 21st birthday. When Tom walked into the house, everyone called out, "Surprise!", and Tom really was surprised. It was surprising to him that all these people were there, and it was surprising to him that Mary would throw him a party. So the party was a real surprise to Tom, and so was Mary's thoughtfulness.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[ivygreen]

Thank you so much for your answering. I understood the differences well.

[quote="CP"]The person who reacts to the stimulus is [surprised]. The person or event that has the effect on the surprised person is [surprising].

[Anuradha Chepur]

In other words:

Adjectives can refer to qualities or feelings.
Some adjectives have two forms: the -ed form and the -ing form.
The -ed forms refer to feelings, and the -ing form refer to qualities.

bored/boring
interested/interesting
puzzled/puzzling
etc

He is bored.
He is boring.

I am interested in this post.
This post is interesting.

The students were puzzled at the questions.
The questions were puzzling.

[ivygreen]

Thank you so much for your explanation.
It helps me to understand well.