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I have a question with 4 options, I would like to know if what I chose is correct.

"The lecture was so ... that almost everyone fell asleep."

1) bored 2) dull 3) exhausted 4) tired

I chose option number 2 (dull), because all the rest are make the verbs passive and then they can not cause to active action of felling asleep. My choosing is correct?

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    Dull although in everyday language people say boring. It's not a good question since if someone doesn't know the meaning of dull, he can simply rule out all other options since other adjectives describe an animate being and lecture is definitely not one.
    – Yuri
    Oct 2, 2016 at 17:47
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    The answer is correct, but not the "why". Numbers 1), 3) and 4) are adjectives. And so is 2) but it describes the lecture, whilst the other adjectives are used to describe the effect something has on us. E.g I was bored by the movie = The movie was boring.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Oct 2, 2016 at 17:47
  • @Mari-LouA +1 but a good example of the "worthy of an answer?/closeworthy?" conundrum. How "elementary" is "too elementary?" When is a good answer in a comment appropriate?
    – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica
    Oct 2, 2016 at 20:45
  • @P.E.Dant yes, spot on re. conundrum. But if a newcomer wants to post an answer, they're welcomed to. I suspect this type of question must have been asked before.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Oct 2, 2016 at 21:30
  • @Mari-LouA Yup, I consciously averted my eyes from duplicates...
    – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica
    Oct 2, 2016 at 21:35

1 Answer 1

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A lecture can not be

bored
tired

since a lecture is not animate.

A lecture might be

exhausted
the lecture was exhausted
the possibilities were exhausted

which might mean it has come to its end, but

so exhausted

is not possible since this might describe the physical state of a lecture.

The lecture was so dull that almost everyone fell asleep.
The lecture was so boring...
The lecture was so exhausting...
The lecture was so tiring...

The students were so bored that almost everyone fell asleep.
The students were so tired...
The students were so exhausted...

are all possible and correct.

The students were so dull that almost everyone fell asleep.

though grammatically correct, may not make sense logically.

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