The phrase "are capable of behaving" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when discussing the potential or ability of someone or something to act in a certain way.
Example: "Dogs are capable of behaving in a friendly manner when properly trained."
Alternatives: "have the ability to act" or "can behave in a certain way."
But E.U. officials wanted to demonstrate that they are capable of behaving in a decisive manner.
"They have been very rash and aggressive; now they want to give the impression that things have normalized, that they are capable of behaving in a mature way".
And that's the point – all governments panic and lose their way, and some ministers and civil servants, whatever they tell us about themselves, are capable of behaving very badly indeed.
Gary Kitchen Southport, England, Dec. 7, 2009 To the Editor: Re "That Climate Change E-Mail" (editorial, Dec. 6): What the e-mail messages hacked from British climate scientists show is that scientists, too, have human frailties and are capable of behaving in a partisan and even vindictive manner.
Though human altruism is more complicated than that, and people are capable of behaving with profound self-sacrifice for nonrelatives, research has shown that the general principles of inclusive fitness and kin selection apply throughout the natural world, and in many human transactions as well.
Along the same lines, fragments of text taken from the past and placed in the charged field of the historical present are capable of behaving much as the elements of a surrealist image do, interacting spontaneously to give off political energy.
And yet, despite these problems with politics, the group was capable of behaving very differently when it came to social programs and private projects.
The Russians have been misled and manipulated by the Iranians plenty of times, fraying patience in Moscow over its on-again, off-again relationship with Tehran.Although Russia is capable of behaving cynically over Syria and Iran, analysts and diplomats in Moscow also genuinely believe they have a more nuanced, less naive understanding of regional issues than their American counterparts.
He is capable of behaving kindly, but he is not kind.
What if, in order to stay true to one's self, one need also be capable of behaving contrary to one's own principles, yet in the interest of others those same principles most affect?
