Immune To: Standard Pattern
Immune 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 “immune to” for protection against disease or for being unaffected by an influence; “immune from” is also used in other contexts.
Key details
Choose the right form
| Meaning / situation | Form / construction | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| protected against disease or unaffected by an influence | immune to + noun | Use “immune to.” |
| protected from punishment or consequences in some contexts | immune from + noun | “Immune from” is also documented and may carry a different emphasis. |
Quick tests
Meaning / construction test
Does the meaning concern resistance to a disease, influence, criticism, or similar effect?
If yes: Use “immune to.”
If no: Consider “immune from” when the sense is protection from consequences or where that phrasing is established.
Caveat: “Immune from” also occurs, especially in protection-from-consequences contexts, so this is not a universal ban on “from.”
Examples
Vaccination can make a person immune to a disease.
“To” introduces what the person is protected against.
No organization is immune to criticism.
The figurative sense means unaffected by or exempt from the influence.
The agreement did not make them immune to market pressure.
“Immune to” works for figurative resistance as well as disease.
Further guidance
Construction
Cambridge documents “immune to” for protection against disease and for being unaffected by behavior, emotion, criticism, or similar influence.
Style Boundary
Cambridge also documents “immune from,” especially for protection from punishment or legal consequences and in some overlapping affected-by contexts.
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.
- immune — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Cambridge dictionary evidence for immune to and immune from constructions.