Apply Yourself To Doing vs. Apply Yourself To Do

Key details

Confusion Familyverb complement choice

Rule Familyverb complement licensing

TermsApply Yourself To Doing, Apply Yourself To Do

Choose the right form

Decision table for Apply Yourself To Doing vs. Apply Yourself To Do
Meaning	Pattern	Example
work hard and attentively at an activity	apply yourself to + -ing	apply yourself to studying
work hard at a thing/task	apply yourself to + noun	apply yourself to the task
other senses of “apply”	separate constructions	do not merge them into this pattern

Quick tests

Task test

Does “apply yourself” mean devote serious effort to an activity?

If yes: Use prepositional “to” followed by a noun or -ing form.

If no: If “apply” has a different meaning, check that construction independently.

Caveat: The reflexive expression “apply yourself to” has its own complement pattern; surface “to” does not make the activity an infinitive.

Examples

Example

Apply yourself to learning the new system.

The activity follows prepositional “to.”

Example

She applied herself to the task for two hours.

A noun phrase fills the same slot.

Incorrect

Apply yourself to learn the new system.

Better: Apply yourself to learning the new system.

For the devote-effort meaning, the reviewed pattern uses -ing.

Further guidance

Boundary

This apply-yourself construction takes prepositional to; other senses of apply use different complements and should not be merged into this pattern.

Construction

Oxford documents apply yourself to (doing) something for working hard and attentively at a task.

Decision

Use apply yourself to + -ing when the complement is an activity.

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.

apply (opens in a new tab)Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries · Preferred lexical authority directly documenting apply yourself to (doing) something.

Related guides

English Usage

Accustom Yourself To Doing vs. Accustom Yourself To Do

Cambridge directly gives accustom yourself to followed by an -ing form for becoming familiar with new conditions. The to belongs to the prepositional construction accustom yourself to something; do not infer an equivalent to-infinitive from the surface word to.

English Usage

Be Busy Doing vs. Busy To Do

Cambridge directly documents busy + -ing for being occupied with an activity, and separately documents too busy to do something. Busy doing and too busy to do are different constructions with different meanings. Do not treat bare busy to do as a direct alternative to busy doing.

English Usage

Be Capable Of Doing vs. Capable To Do

Cambridge directly documents capable of something/doing something for having the ability, power, or qualities needed to do something. The documented adjective complement is capable of + noun or -ing form; do not replace the prepositional complement with capable to + infinitive on the basis of meaning alone.

English Usage

Be Good At Doing vs. Good To Do

Cambridge directly documents be good at something/doing something for being skilled or successful at an activity. Good to + infinitive can occur in other constructions and meanings, but it is not a substitute for the documented skill construction be good at + -ing.

English Usage

Be Reduced To Doing vs. Be Reduced To Do

Oxford directly documents reduce somebody/something to (doing) something, usually in the passive, for being forced into a worse state or action. Here to introduces the resulting state or activity; the authority does not establish an equivalent be reduced to + bare infinitive pattern.

English Usage

Be Skilled At Doing vs. Skilled To Do

Cambridge directly documents be skilled at/in doing something for having developed ability in an activity. The preferred-source construction uses a preposition before the -ing form; do not infer skilled to + infinitive as a parallel complement solely from the adjective’s meaning.

Explore the topic

Grammar Verb Forms