Language.. -d and -ed to adjectives?

Question

I was so tensed before the exam
I was so tense before the exam

the 2nd sentence is correct but how do i explain it to my class??

because :
i was so scare(d) before my exam. and not
i was so scare bofore my exam.

Answer 1

If you look carefully, you'll see that 'tensed' is actually an adverb - it modifies the verb was 'was tensed'. In the second sentence tense is an adjective because it describes/modifies the pronoun -I am tense/I was tense - it's a state of being. One more thing - in the 1st sentence the problem is also that was + tensed acts as a double past tense and that's why it's wrong. In the 2nd, was + tense is much clearer because "was" is clearly the verb and tense is clearly the adjective, so there is no confusion for the students.

Answer 2

Would one say:

I was tensed.

or

I was tense.

Drop the rest of the sentence, which makes the most sense?

Thinking about it a bit more... is tensed only used in conjunction with up? -- tensed up.

You could say ...tensed up before the test... But that's pretty slang, maybe colloquial?