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ESL forum > Ask for help > be+ adjective + to-infinitive    

be+ adjective + to-infinitive



abba
Spain

be+ adjective + to-infinitive
 
These days we �re practising verbs followed by bare infinitive, to-infinitive and gerund. According to the rule when the verb to be is followed by an adjective we write to-infinitive like in  He �s glad to be here or it �s nice to see you again. However, in one reading I came across the following sentence: she �s busy planning her trip. Could you explain me why -ing is used in this case? because I couldn �t find out.
Thanks in advance.
Bel�n

27 May 2013      





ueslteacher
Ukraine

It �s a collocation:) 
If Alex (Almaz) was around, he could probably go into detail and explain the roots of it.
I �d go with remembering it as a dictionary entry:
2 busy (doing something) spending a lot of time on somethingJames is busy practising for the school concert.Let �s get busy with the clearing up.They were busy enjoying themselves at the party.

Sophia

27 May 2013     



abba
Spain

Thanks a million Sophia, the fact is that Michael Swam mentions as adjectives that can take either -ing form or infinitive the following: accustomed, afraid, certain, interested, sorry, sure and used but nothing was said about busy. Thanks a bunch.
Bel�n

27 May 2013     



ueslteacher
Ukraine

P. S. ah, he is around:)
Sophia

27 May 2013