That sounds boring, you must have been bored

    Sometimes I meet students who aren't very sure about the differences between words like these:
    • interested / interesting
    • bored / boring
    • tired / tiring
    • worried / worrying
    • scared / scary (*Note: scary not scaring)

    Let's look at one example: bored vs. boring. Imagine that you're sitting in your living room one evening watching television:

    • This programme is really boring. Isn't there anything better on the other channel?
    • I'm really bored with this programme. Let's watch something else.

    Note:
    The thing that causes the boredom is boring. The person who feels the boredom is bored.

    In the last one point lesson, we looked at short exchanges like these:
    1. So, there we were walking through the forest and, suddenly, we saw this bear standing in front of us.
    2. Wow! I bet that must have been scary.

    1. Last Saturday, my sister drove all the way from Tokyo to Kagoshima.
    2. That must have been exhausting.

    B could also say:
    • Wow! I bet you must have been scared.
    • She must have been exhausted.

    Exercise:

    How could A respond to B's comments in the examples below. Use one "That must have been _____" and one "You/he/she must have been _____" response in each case:

    1. And then as we were flying over the Himalayas, we got caught in a thunder storm and the lights on the plane went out.
    2. (i) _________________________________________.
      (ii) _________________________________________.

    1. Thelma had been looking forward to the festival for weeks. Then, on the day it was supposed to take place, it poured with rain and they cancelled it.
    2. (i) _________________________________________.
      (ii) _________________________________________.

    1. So, I got up from the table and went to the check-out to pay for the meal. I took out my wallet and realised I didn't have any money.
    2. (i) _________________________________________.
      (ii) _________________________________________.

    1. My daughter went out with some friends last night. She said she'd be back by 11, but we didn't see her till three o'clock in the morning.
    2. (i) _________________________________________.
      (ii) _________________________________________.

    Click here for some suggested answers and for a list of ____ed / ____ing pairs.

    Click here to try some other one-point lessons.

    © Robert E. Jones, 2003