ADJECTIVES + TO INFINITIVES

INTRODUCTION
Adjectives are determiners that can be placed in two different positions
within a sentence to modify or describe a person or a thing.
Some adjectives can be followed by the to-infinitive form of verbs to
express feelings or reactions.

FORM
Adjectives + to-infinitives have this structure:
Adjective + (noun/noun phrase) + to-infinitive + …
The most commonly used adjetives are: clever, difficult, easy, hard,
impossible, nice, possible, right, strange, wrong…

EXAMPLES

● You are clever to stop working there, they didn’t pay you
enough.
● It is very difficult for me to breathe because it smells horrible.
● It isn’t easy to ride a horse that behaves badly.
● It was really hard to find our way here.
● She found it impossible to learn to play piano. 
● It was nice to see you looking so happy!
● How is it possible to be this tired?
 ● You were right to say that to him, he shouldn’t talk to you like
that.
● It would be strange to see you with short hair.
● He was wrong to think that she ever cared. 

USE
We use adjectives followed by to-infinitives to express feelings or
reactions.

SUMMARY
We find some adjectives followed by the to-infinitive form of verbs to
express feelings or reactions.
The most commonly used adjetives are: clever, difficult, easy, hard,
impossible, nice, possible, right, strange, wrong…
The structure is: We start with the adjective (potentially followed by a
noun or a noun phrase) followed by a to-infinitive.
For example:
— “It is expensive to buy.” = Expensive can be followed by the
to-infinitive form (to buy).
NOTE: Not all adjectives can be followed by the to-infinitive.

Adjectives and Prepositions

nice / kind / good / stupid / silly / intelligent / clever / sensible /
(im)polite / rude / unreasonable OF someone (to do something)
Thank you it was very nice / kind of you to help me. It's stupid of her to
go out without a coat.

nice / kind / good / (im)polite / rude / (un)pleasant / (un)friendly /

cruel TO someone

She has always been very nice / kind to me. Why are you so rude /
unfriendly to Ann?

angry / furious ABOUT something / WITH someone / FOR something

Why are you so angry about it? They were furious with me for not
inviting them to my party.

pleased / disappointed / satisfied WITH something

I was pleased with the present you gave me. Were you disa
I was pleased with the present you gave me. Were you disappointed
with your examination results?

bored / fed up WITH something

You get bored / fed up with doing the same thing every day.

surprised / shocked / amazed / astonished AT / BY something

Everyone was surprised by /at the news.

excited / worried / upset ABOUT something

Are you excited about going on holiday next week?

afraid / scared / frightened / terrified OF someone / something

Are you afraid of dogs?

proud / ashamed OF someone / something

I'm not ashamed of what I did.

good / bad / excellent / brilliant / hopeless AT (doing) something

I'm not very good at repairing things.

married TO someone (Linda is married to an American.)

sorry ABOUT something (I'm sorry about the noise last night.)

sorry FOR doing something (I'm sorry for shouting at you yesterday.)

be / feel sorry FOR someone (I feel sorry for George.)

famous FOR something (Florence is famous for its art treasures.)

responsible FOR something (Who was responsible for this noise last
night?)

interested IN something (Are you interested in art?)

fond OF something / someone (Mary is fond of animals.)

full OF something (The letter was full of mistakes.)

short OF something (I'm a bit short of money.)

keen ON something (We stayed at home because Mary wasn't very
keen on going out in the rain.)

similar TO something (Your writing is similar to mine.)

crowded WITH (people,...) (The city was crowded with tourists.)

For+object+to-infinitive
The structure for + object + to-infinitive (where the object is the noun,
pronoun or noun phrase that receives or is affected by the action of the
verb) is often used after certain adjectives.
 
It's important for me to finish this essay on time.
It's essential for him to sign the will in front of a witness.
Before the for+object+to-infinitive structure there can be three different
kinds of adjectives:
a) Adjectives that express importance: important, essential, vital,
necessary, pointless...
It is essential for doctors to check all possible causes of this illness.
b) Adjectives that express frequency: common, normal, unusual, rare...
It is normal for a child to fall asleep when tired.
c) Adjectives that express personal reactions: anxious, eager,
delighted... (in this case, sentences don't start with it's)
They'll be delighted for you to stay at their home.
I'm anxious for the summer to come.