Shouldn't there be.....

Question

The sentence:The students seemed to be unsure what to do in the future.Shouldn't there be "about" next to "unsure"? How can a noun phrase "what to do" come right after the adjective "unsure"?Thanks.

Hazem4 · Accepted Answer

The students are unsure of what to do in the future. or The students are unsure about their future .

Kjs980508 · Answer

Thanks for the reply!

AlpheccaStars · Answer

The students are unsure of what to do in the future.
The students are unsure about their future .

These two sentences have different meanings.

The students are unsure of what to do in the future. -
Near term future: They can't decide to go to the football game, or go to the movies, or stay at home.
Long term future: They can't decide to go into the army, or to be a teacher, or to study economics at university.(Most native speakers would make this interpretation, without other context.)

The students are unsure about their future.
They don't know if they will be successful and well-off or be very poor without a secure income. They are afraid that the economy will be bad, or there will be wars, and they will not be happy and successful..

Kjs980508 · Answer

Thanks for the detailed reply! <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Shouldn't there be.....

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