Dan here for BBC Learning English with this week's Learner Question.

Find out what it is after this.

Learners' Questions

OK!

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

It's a very good question Oum.

Are you listening?

Here we go.

Bored and boring are both adjectives.

They have the same meaning i.e. 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 Oum.

Thank you very much for writing to us.

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