Adhere To: Standard Pattern
Adhere To: Standard Pattern records the directly documented Cambridge construction and keeps the guidance bounded to the evidenced complement pattern rather than inventing a broader prohibition.
Cambridge documents “adhere to” for obeying or closely following a rule, standard, agreement, principle, or policy.
Key details
Choose the right form
| Context | Use | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| obey a rule, standard, policy, or agreement | adhere to + noun phrase | Use “to” before what is being followed. |
| remain faithful to a principle or plan | adhere to + noun phrase | The same complement pattern can express close observance. |
| a different sense of “adhere” is intended | check that sense separately | This page focuses on the documented follow/obey construction rather than making a universal claim about every sense. |
Quick tests
Decision test
Are you saying that someone or something follows a rule, standard, agreement, principle, or policy?
If yes: Use “adhere to.”
If no: If “adhere” is being used in another sense, check that construction separately.
Caveat: The guide is bounded to the directly documented follow/obey sense and does not infer a universal complement rule beyond it.
Examples
All submissions must adhere to the stated format.
“To” introduces the standard being followed.
The organization adheres to its published policy.
The policy being followed comes after “to.”
They agreed to adhere to the original plan.
The plan observed or followed is the complement of “to.”
Further guidance
Construction
Cambridge documents adhere to for continuing to obey, follow, believe in, or support a rule, standard, agreement, principle, or similar object.
Style Boundary
This page records the supported adhere-to construction and does not turn a documented phrasal verb into a universal rule for every sense of adhere.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- adhere to something — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Cambridge dictionary evidence for the phrasal-verb construction adhere to something.