Indicating obligation and willingness
|
Using adjectives to indicate willingness | page 3 of 5 |
Indicating strong willingness
With strong willingness, the speaker or person referred to is totally committed to the course of action. This can be glossed as determination.
There are three adjectival expressions (determined to, set on, bent on) which are typically used to indicate determination:
These people drive at speeds which not only put themselves in great danger, but also risk innocent members of the public and my own officers. We are determined to make the roads as safe as we possibly can by catching them. (SCMP 31/8/92)
Some community leaders denounced the Chinese government after the Tiananmen Square massacre in June and have since provided donations to Chinese groups in exile in France and the United States. Peking has recently accused Britain of "conniving" with groups in Hong Kong which it says are set on overthrowing the Chinese government. (Microconcord Corpus A)
Note that bent on is typically used when the speaker or writer disapproves of the action in question:
Frankenstein is the obvious paradigm. Sometimes the scientist is evil and bent on using science for his wicked ends, but more often he is simply an obsessive who has been corrupted by the pursuit of knowledge.
But it does seem to me that the Government is hell bent on destroying the education system and I don't believe that its mind is going to be swayed very much by the kinds of actions that students are able to engage in at this stage in time. (Bank of English)
Note that keen can sometimes be used to indicate determination. In such cases, the context will indicate the level of willingness:
You were so keen to have your own way with her that you disregarded the fact that you could have made her pregnant.
Introduction
Indicating strong willingness
