Unfit For: Standard Pattern
Unfit For: Standard Pattern records a directly documented English construction and keeps guidance bounded to the evidenced pattern rather than turning one attested complement into a universal prohibition.
Use “unfit for” when saying that someone or something is not suitable, qualified, or fit for a role, purpose, or condition.
Key details
Choose the right form
| Context | Use | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| not suitable for a role, purpose, use, or condition | unfit for + noun | Use “for” before the noun phrase. |
| not fit to perform an action | unfit to + verb | Use the separately documented infinitive pattern. |
| general description | unfit | No complement is required when the context is complete. |
Quick tests
Complement-form test
Does the complement name a role, purpose, use, or condition as a noun phrase?
If yes: Use “unfit for + noun.”
If no: If the complement is an action, “unfit to + verb” may be appropriate.
Caveat: This guide records the noun-complement pattern and does not reject the infinitive construction.
Examples
The damaged ladder is unfit for use.
“For” introduces the purpose for which the ladder is unsuitable.
He was declared unfit for military service.
The noun phrase names the role or condition.
The vehicle is unfit to drive on public roads.
The infinitive expresses an action, illustrating the separate pattern.
Further guidance
Construction
Use “unfit for” when saying that someone or something is not suitable, qualified, or fit for a role, purpose, or condition.
Style Boundary
Cambridge also documents “unfit to” before a verb in appropriate contexts; keep the noun-complement “unfit for” pattern separate from that infinitive pattern.
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.
- UNFIT | English meaning — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Direct Cambridge dictionary evidence for unfit for in suitability/fitness senses and the separate unfit to + verb construction.