Gerund after practise

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the-good-guy

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Joined
Feb 6, 2011
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German
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Switzerland
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Switzerland
Hello
Usually practise is followed by the gerund. In the following sentence it is not and the sentence is correct:
When we visited her, she was too busy practising to talk, but she invited us to have a coffee with her in her mid-morning break.
Why ... practising to talk and not practising talking?
Thank you very much.
Best regards
 
Hello
Usually practise is followed by the gerund. In the following sentence it is not and the sentence is correct:
When we visited her, she was too busy practising to talk, but she invited us to have a coffee with her in her mid-morning break.
Why ... practising to talk and not practising talking?
Thank you very much.
Best regards

She wasn't practising her talking. She was too busy to talk to us when we visited her. What was she busy doing? She was busy practising. It doesn't say what activity she was practising.
 
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