Appreciate Doing vs. Appreciate To Do
Cambridge documents appreciate with an -ing clause, including an expressed subject such as “your making the effort.” Appreciate also takes nouns and clauses (“appreciate that …”); those alternatives do not create a direct appreciate + to-infinitive pattern.
Use “appreciate doing” or constructions such as “appreciate your doing …” when expressing value or gratitude for an action; ordinary “appreciate to do” is not the reviewed equivalent.
Key details
Choose the right form
| What is appreciated | Standard pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| an action/experience | appreciate + -ing | appreciate hearing |
| another person’s action | appreciate + possessive/object + -ing | appreciate your helping |
| proposition/fact | appreciate that + clause | a separate documented option |
Quick tests
Value/gratitude test
Are you expressing appreciation for an action or experience?
If yes: Use an -ing clause, optionally with its understood or expressed subject.
If no: If you are appreciating a fact, a that-clause may fit; do not invent a direct “appreciate to do” alternative.
Caveat: “Appreciate” accepts several complement types, but the existence of those alternatives does not license ordinary direct “appreciate + to-infinitive.”
Examples
I appreciate hearing your perspective.
The -ing clause names the appreciated action/experience.
We appreciate your taking the time to review this.
The action has an expressed subject.
I appreciate to hear your perspective.
Better: I appreciate hearing your perspective.
This is not the ordinary reviewed complement.
Further guidance
Boundary
Appreciate also takes nouns and clauses (“appreciate that …”); those alternatives do not create a direct appreciate + to-infinitive pattern.
Construction
Cambridge documents appreciate with an -ing clause, including an expressed subject such as “your making the effort.”
Decision
Use “appreciate doing” or constructions such as “appreciate your doing …” when expressing value or gratitude for an action; ordinary “appreciate to do” is not the reviewed equivalent.
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.
- appreciate — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge Dictionary · Appreciate + -ing, often with a possessive/object before the -ing form, for gratitude toward an action
- Verb patterns: verb + infinitive or verb + -ing? (opens in a new tab)Cambridge Dictionary · Verb-complement patterns, including verbs taking -ing, to-infinitive, or both with meaning differences