Can any verb's present and past participles be used as adjectives?
A canonical adjective (e.g. sad) fulfils four grammatical criteria. It can:
- follow a copula (predicative use): The news was sad ...
- precede a noun (attributive use): The sad news ...
- be premodified: The news was very sad ...
- have a comparative/superlative form: The saddest news ...
There are many verbs whose pairs of present and past participles fulfil these conditions (most commonly those associated with mental states and what causes those states). Some examples:
-ing form
- The teacher was surprising / disappointing / shocking / confusing ...
- The surprising / disappointing / shocking / confusing teacher ...
- The very surprising / disappointing / shocking / confusing teacher ...
- The most surprising / disappointing / shocking / confusing teacher ...
-ed form
- The teacher was surprised / disappointed / shocked / confused ...
- The surprised / disappointed / shocked / confused teacher ...
- The very surprised / disappointed / shocked / confused teacher ...
- The most surprised / disappointed / shocked / confused teacher ...
Numerous other verbs however do not have both present and past participles that fulfill each of the four criteria. For example: take the verb to like. We can construct acceptable phrases with the -ed form:
- The teacher is liked.
- She is a liked teacher.
- She is a much liked teacher.
- She is the most liked teacher in the school.
But I cannot conceive of an acceptable use of liking in similar constructions: ?the teacher is liking, ?the liking teacher, ?the very liking teacher, etc.
Conversely, we can use the -ing form of to sleep in a couple of the adjectival constructions: the sleeping child, the soundly sleeping child, but it is hard to conceive of an acceptable adjectival use of the past participle: ?the night is slept, ?the slept child.
Note that several verbs already have different adjectival forms whose meaning corresponds to the -ing adjective. In such cases the -ing adjective will typically not be used. So, for example, a destructive (?destroying) bomb, injurious (?injuring) behaviour.
And finally, even with verbs of feeling (mental state) the -ing form is not always acceptable. We can talk about a pleased child and a pleasing child, and also a delighted child, but not ?a delighting child. It needs to be delightful.
So, the answer to the question is a clear no. Not all verbs have acceptable adjectival uses of both their present and past participles.