Prone To: Standard Pattern
Prone To: Standard Pattern records the directly documented Cambridge construction, including its noun and -ing complement behavior, without creating a thin comparison.
Cambridge documents “prone to” before a noun or an -ing form when describing a tendency or susceptibility.
Key details
Choose the right form
| Meaning / situation | Form / construction | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| tendency or susceptibility followed by a thing | prone to + noun | Use “to” before the noun complement. |
| tendency or susceptibility followed by an activity | prone to + -ing | The “to” is a preposition, so an -ing form can follow it. |
| make a broader claim about every nearby wording choice | stay within the documented prone-to construction | Do not infer unsupported equivalence with other prepositions. |
Quick tests
Meaning / construction test
Are you naming what someone or something tends or is susceptible to?
If yes: Use “prone to” followed by a noun or an -ing form as appropriate.
If no: Use a different construction only when the intended meaning is different.
Examples
This model is prone to errors.
A noun follows the preposition “to.”
He is prone to forgetting small details.
An -ing form follows because “to” functions as a preposition here.
The path is prone to flooding after heavy rain.
The tendency is expressed with “prone to” plus -ing.
Further guidance
Construction
Cambridge documents be prone to something or to doing something for a tendency or susceptibility.
Style Boundary
This page records the supported prone-to construction; it does not claim that all nearby wording choices are interchangeable.
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.
- prone — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Cambridge dictionary evidence for be prone to something or doing something.