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Unit 1: English In A Minute
Give us a minute and we'll give you English

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Session 58

Welcome to English In A Minute. Give us a minute and we'll give you a hot tip about English. Grammar, vocabulary... there's so much to learn! And all taught by your favourite BBC Learning English staff!

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    Activity 1
  1. Activity 1

Activity 1

Bored vs Boring

Do you have a minute to spare to learn some English? Sam's here to explain the difference between bored and boring! It won't bore you! Give us 60 seconds and we'll give you the English!

Watch the video and complete the activity

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Sam
Hi I'm Sam from BBC Learning English and this is me in class. How am I feeling - bored or boring?

I was feeling bored because the lesson was boring. So the lesson was the reason I felt bored.

So –ed endings describe the feeling and –ing endings describe the reason you have that feeling.

And this works for other adjectives too. So if the lesson is interesting, I feel interested. If something is tiring, I'm tired. If something is relaxing, I'm relaxed. If something is surprising, I'm surprised. If something is exciting, I'm excited.

So, tell us how these videos make you feel.

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Did you like that? Why not try these?

EIAM Teaser 6minvocab_li_6_ing_ed_adjectives.jpg 6mingram_8_adjectives_adverbs.jpg______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Bored vs boring

Adjectives
English has many adjectives that end in -ed or -ing, but there is a difference in meaning.

-ed
-ed adjectives describe how a person is feeling

  • I was bored because the lesson was boring.
  • This music is relaxing. I feel very relaxed.
  • I am so excited to be going to the party!

-ing
-ing adjectives describe the thing that makes a person feel something

  • I was bored because the lesson was boring.
  • This music is relaxing. I feel very relaxed.
  • This party is so exciting! I'm glad I came!

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