Some adjectives are always followed by the infinitive form of the verb and never by gerunds. It would be incorrect to use gerunds after the following adjectives:
- Anxious
- Boring
- Dangerous
- Hard
- Eager
- Easy
- Good
- Strange
- Pleased
- Prepared
- Ready
- Able
- Usual
- Common
- Difficult
Examples:
- Incorrect: He was anxious making a move.
- Correct: He was anxious to make a move.
- Incorrect: It was boring watching that movie again.
- Correct: It was boring to watch that movie again.
- Incorrect: It is dangerous walking on that road.
- Correct: It is dangerous to walk on that road.
- Incorrect: It’s hard changing a bad habit.
- Correct: It’s hard to change a bad habit.
- Incorrect: He is eager meeting his family.
- Correct: He is eager to meet his family.
- Incorrect: It is easy saying anything but difficult doing.
- Correct: It is easy to say anything but difficult to do.
- Incorrect: It is good hearing from you.
- Correct: It is good to hear from you.
- Incorrect: It was strange meeting him.
- Correct: It was strange to meet him.
- Incorrect: I was prepared doing everything for her.
- Correct: I was prepared to do everything for her.
- Incorrect: I was pleased watching the movie.
- Correct: I was pleased to watch the movie.
- Incorrect: We are ready going.
- Correct: We are ready to go.
- Incorrect: I cannot believe that he is able doing it.
- Correct: I cannot believe that he is able to do it.
- Incorrect: It has become usual coming late in the office.
- Correct: It has become usual to come late in the office.
- Incorrect: It is very uncommon getting such good products here.
- Correct: It is very uncommon to get such good products here.
- Incorrect: It is always difficult scoring runs on this kind of surface.
- Correct: It is always difficult to score runs on this kind of surface.
Note: The rule is only applicable to the adjectives in the list above. The synonyms of these words might have a different rule. For example, the adjective 'able' has a similar meaning to the word 'capable,' but the grammatical function of these two words is different.