Bored describes how a person feels (I'm bored), while boring describes what causes that feeling: a film, a job, a lecture or a person. So I'm boring means “I'm a dull person”, which is a completely different idea.
bored or boring — can you pick the right one?
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be/feel/get + bored; bored with/of + noun/-ing; be boring; a boring + film/job/lecture; it's boring to + verb
- I got bored halfway through the lecture and started checking my phone.
- The first two chapters are a bit boring, but then the story gets exciting.
- The kids were bored after three hours in the car, so we stopped for ice cream.
What changed
First versionI'm really boring at home today, so let's go for a walk.
RevisionI'm really bored at home today, so let's go for a walk.
Boring is a familiar word, so it's tempting to use it for the feeling as well. But I'm boring means “I'm a dull person”, not a complaint that you have nothing to do. To talk about how you feel, say bored.
Many pairs work the same way: the -ed form describes how a person feels, and the -ing form describes what causes the feeling. I'm tired after a tiring day. Interested and interesting, confused and confusing follow the same pattern.
Your turn
Nothing happened at work today, and by three o'clock I was really ___.
Show the answer
bored — The sentence is about how the speaker felt: nothing was happening at work, and they got bored. That's bored. I was boring would mean the speaker was dull to other people, and the context says something else.
Think of a boring activity, lesson or meeting. Say what exactly was boring and what you did once you got bored.
The safety training at work was really boring, so when I got bored I started drawing little cars in my notebook.
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