I have seen people use the forms/expressions "to get bored of", "to get bored with", "to get bored by", "to get bored from." I would like to know which is the correct one to use when it is followed by a gerund as a non. Which one do you recommend?
If all of them are correct, when should I use each one?
Examples:
- John was getting bored of doing the same thing every day.
- John was getting bored with doing the same thing every day.
- John was getting bored by doing the same thing every day.
- John was getting bored from doing the same thing every day.
Best Answer
The Macmillan Dictionary blog has a nice article about "bored with" vs. "bored of". The conclusion is that they are interchangeable, with the latter being considered a newer usage in the language (also corroborated by other comparisons between the two you can find online, such as this one). The Cambridge Dictionary's entry for bored shows examples with both "with" and "of", as well as an example of where it's OK to drop the preposition altogether.
"bored by" seems to be another equivalent way of saying the same thing. It seems like it was a popular choice in the past on par with "bored with". It's still not unpopular today - take a look at all these examples from printed books. Personally, I'd use it when I want to emphasize the feeling of boredom, rather than that something is boring, but I can't claim that's a general rule:
"bored from" means "bored as a result of", as you can see in the comments section of this Bored Panda (ahem) article. So you wouldn't typically say "I'm bored from you" (= bored as a result of you ??). I suggest looking it up in Google Books as well to get additional examples of how it's used.