Modifying Another Word

• so: Why are we so preoccupied with working, for the sake of wealth?

• very: People sometimes get very preoccupied with worrying about the authenticity of sources.

• increasingly: In recent years academics, politicians and the media seem to have become increasingly preoccupied with the Holocaust.

Used with adjective complement

• become: Whenever we have become preoccupied with small detail, we must suddenly change into a large spirit, interchanging large with small.

• seem: Brian seems preoccupied - he has seen Brenda - broadcasting gossip is not a good idea.

Modifies a noun

• manner: It seems aimless and their preoccupied manner suggests a disregard of time very foreign to the streets of London.

• eye: She looked down with preoccupied eyes at the thin stream of water.

• expression: The Overworlder had a preoccupied expression, which lent her cold beauty a hint of humanity.