蜜芽传媒

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Learning English - The Flatmates

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Language Point

Quiz

Talk

Adjectives + infinitives or prepositions

Some adjectives are followed by infinitives, particularly when we are talking about feelings or how we react to things or people. For example, Jack said 'I was desperate to keep my job'.

Some other adjectives are followed by different prepositions. For example, Tim wanted Jack to be responsible for his own actions.

Here are some examples of adjectives + infinitives and adjectives + prepositions.

afraid to
I was afraid to tell you what I'd done. I thought you would fire me.

bound to / certain to
You love action films so you're bound to think the new James Bond film is fantastic.

happy to
I'd be happy to baby-sit for you. Let me just check I'm free on Friday.

shocked to
He was shocked to hear he'd failed his exam. He was sure he was going to pass.

capable of / incapable of
Mum! There's no need to keep watching me every minute. I'm quite capable of cooking a meal by myself.
She's completely incapable of going window shopping. She always ends up buying something.

sure of / certain of
She's such a know-it-all. It drives me crazy the way she's so sure of everything.
A: Are you sure Pauline's party's this Saturday?
B: I'm certain of it. I put it in my diary as soon as she invited us.

sick of / tired of / sick and tired of
I'm sick of hearing about his fabulous new car.
I'm tired of fish. Can't we have something different to eat tonight?
I'm sick and tired of her going on about how wonderful her holiday was.

frightened of / scared of
What a pair we are! She's frightened of spiders and I'm scared of heights.

good at / brilliant at
He's good at talking to strangers at parties. I'm just too shy.

bad at / hopeless at / useless at
He's pretty bad at cooking but at least he always does the washing up.
I'm hopeless at remembering people's names. I'm good at faces, but just useless at names.

annoyed about
He's annoyed about the way she kept interrupting him in the meeting.

guilty about
I feel guilty about forgetting my mum's birthday this year. It just completely slipped my mind.

excited about
My grandma's never been to the States before so she's really excited about her trip to New York.

threatens
tells someone they will cause problems for you if you don't do what they want

goes behind my back
does something, in a way which is unfair or dishonest, without me knowing about it

snivelling
crying in an immature, childish way

humiliated
made to feel ashamed

pull rank
use the power that your position gives you over someone to make them do what you want

stuffed up (informal)
spoiled something (here, his job) by doing something wrong