feel lucky to have / having such good friends

[Chicken Sandwich]

1. I feel lucky to have such good friends.
2. I feel lucky having such good friends.

#1 is fine, but what do you think about #2?

According to a rule "adjective + to do (something)", which I came across while reading Common Mistakes In Proficiency, it should be "to have", but when you have friends, you're not really doing anything. I mean, I agree that it should be, 'I'm happy to pick up Caroline after school', because here you are actually doing something.

Thank you in advance.

[charliedeut]

Hi Chicken Sandwich,

IMO, #2 is also correct. Maybe there's a different shade of meaning. I'm working on that.

charliedeut

[bhaisahab]

1. I feel lucky to have such good friends.
2. I feel lucky having such good friends.

#1 is fine, but what do you think about #2?

According to a rule "adjective + to do (something)", which I came across while reading Common Mistakes In Proficiency, it should be "to have", but when you have friends, you're not really doing anything. I mean, I agree that it should be, 'I'm happy to pick up Caroline after school', because here you are actually doing something.

Thank you in advance.

Who is the writer of "Common Mistakes in Proficiency" and who publishes it?

[Chicken Sandwich]

Who is the writer of "Common Mistakes in Proficiency" and who publishes it?

Julie Moore, Cambridge University Press.

She says on p. 7: Many words are followed by a verb in either the gerund (-ing) or infinitive (to do) form. You can check which patterns a word is used with by looking at the examples in a good learner's dictionary. The following are some common combinations:

- adjective + to do (something)
be right / wrong to do (something), be lucky / fortunate to do (something)
be happy to do (something) (= willing to do something):
I'm happy to pick Jamie up if you're busy.

Now follows the exercise. Use the words below (in the same order) to create sentences. Add any necessary prepositions or articles, and put the verbs in an appropriate form.

I / feel / lucky / have / such / good / friends.

The answer key only gives 'I feel lucky to have such good friends' as a possible answer, which makes me wonder if "having" could be used in place of "to have". If the aforementioned rule, adjective + to do (something), applies to this sentence, then only "to have" is possible, but I feel as if "having" also works.

[bhaisahab]

Julie Moore, Cambridge University Press.

She says on p. 7: Many words are followed by a verb in either the gerund (-ing) or infinitive (to do) form. You can check which patterns a word is used with by looking at the examples in a good learner's dictionary. The following are some common combinations:

- adjective + to do (something)
be right / wrong to do (something), be lucky / fortunate to do (something)
be happy to do (something) (= willing to do something):
I'm happy to pick Jamie up if you're busy.

Now follows the exercise. Use the words below (in the same order) to create sentences. Add any necessary prepositions or articles, and put the verbs in an appropriate form.

I / feel / lucky / have / such / good / friends.

The answer key only gives 'I feel lucky to have such good friends' as a possible answer, which makes me wonder if "having" could be used in place of "to have". If the aforementioned rule, adjective + to do (something), applies to this sentence, then only "to have" is possible, but I feel as if "having" also works.

You are right, "having" works as well. The title of the book is "Common Mistakes at Proficiency".