Apt To: Standard Pattern
Apt To: Standard Pattern records the directly documented construction and keeps guidance bounded to the evidenced complement pattern rather than inventing a broader prohibition.
Use “be apt to + verb” when describing a tendency or likelihood to do or become something.
Key details
Choose the right form
| Context | Use | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| describe a tendency to do something | be apt to + base verb | Use “to” before the infinitive verb expressing the tendency. |
| describe likelihood of entering a state | be apt to + become/get/etc. | The pattern can express what is likely to happen. |
| you mean “suitable,” “appropriate,” or another sense of “apt” | check that sense separately | Do not extend this infinitive pattern to every meaning of the adjective. |
Quick tests
Decision test
Are you using “apt” to describe a tendency or likelihood to do or become something?
If yes: Use “be apt to + base verb.”
If no: If “apt” means suitable, appropriate, or another sense, use the construction required by that sense instead.
Caveat: This guide is bounded to Cambridge’s documented tendency/likelihood construction and does not claim that every use of “apt” takes an infinitive.
Examples
He is apt to arrive before the rest of the group.
“To” introduces the base verb describing the tendency.
Small misunderstandings are apt to grow when nobody checks them.
The infinitive expresses what is likely to happen.
She is apt to notice inconsistencies quickly.
The pattern describes a characteristic tendency.
Further guidance
Construction
Cambridge documents “be apt to” followed by a verb for being likely or having a tendency to do something.
Style Boundary
The page is limited to the documented tendency/likelihood construction and does not replace other meanings of apt.
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.
- APT | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press & Assessment · Cambridge dictionary evidence for be apt to + verb as a documented construction.