Part 4: 'Bored' and 'boring' - Learners' Questions

This week's learner question comes from... in Cambodia, who asks, "When should I use the words bored and boring?"

It's a very good question .

Are you listening?

Here we go.

Bored and boring are both adjectives.

They have the same meaning not interesting.

But they're used in different ways.

Consider: I am bored because this TV program is boring.

Or, this film is frightening, so I am frightened.

In English, when an adjective has an "ed" and an "ing" form, the "ed" form describes the feeling of the person, whereas the "ing" form describes the object which makes us feel.

I feel bored because the TV is boring.

I feel frightened because the film is frightening.

But if I stop watching the film, I will not be frightened any more, yet the film will still be frightening.

We can make another difference between bored and boring.

One which describes a temporary feeling or a permanent quality.

For example, I don't like David.

He's boring.

Or, I'm bored, let's go and have some fun.

In the first example, I don't like David because he's boring.

This describes a permanent quality.

David was boring yesterday, he's boring today, and he will probably be boring tomorrow.

However, in my second example, I have a temporary feeling.

I am bored.

If I go and do something fun, I won't be bored any more, will I?

I hope that answers your question .

Thank you very much for writing to us.