(1) The children were excited about opening their presents.
(2) I'm really excited at the prospect of working abroad.
(Both are from OALD)
The adjective, excited, has different complements, about and at complements. Can these be interchangeable, without nuance change?
Interestingly, OALD’s Korean version has slightly different interpretations because of the two propositions: (about -> 느라; at -> 에)
(1) The children were excited by going through the activity of opening their presents.(느라)
(2) I’m very excited is caused by the prospect of working abroad.(에)
What’s the difference between the two complemtns?
Best Answer
The phrases that can follow "about" and "at" when used with "excited" (in the sense of eagerly looking forward to something) are different. The object of "about" can be a gerund or a noun, whereas "at" cannot take a gerund there, only a noun.
I'm excited about seeing friends over the holiday.
I'm excited at the thought of seeing friends over the holiday.
*I'm excited at seeing friends over the holiday. [ungrammatical]
A person can be "good at snowboarding", but not "excited at snowboarding".