Oxford directly records both ashamed + to-infinitive and ashamed of + noun/pronoun. The guide compares those attested structures without inventing an unsupported parallel complement.
ReviewedEvidence1 sourceSectionEnglish Usage
Quick answer
Use “ashamed to do something” when shame or embarrassment is tied to carrying out or admitting an action. Use “ashamed of something/someone/yourself” when the complement names the object or cause of shame.
Key details
Confusion Familyverb-complement
Rule Familyverb-complementation
Termsashamed to do, ashamed of something
Further guidance
Core difference
Oxford documents ashamed + to-infinitive and ashamed of + noun/pronoun as standard complement patterns.
Style Boundary
Keep the preposition in ashamed of; the “to” in ashamed to do introduces an infinitive rather than a prepositional gerund.
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.
Ashamed↗ (opens in a new tab)Oxford University Press · Direct learner-dictionary evidence for ashamed of + noun/pronoun and ashamed + to-infinitive.
Cambridge directly records amazed + to-infinitive and amazed at + complement, making it an evidence-safe replacement for the unsupported Satisfied proposal.
Oxford directly documents averse to (doing) something. This is a prepositional to + noun/-ing construction, so a bare infinitive should not be assumed to be an interchangeable complement.
Oxford documents the idiomatic adjective pattern bent on (doing) something for determination. The evidence does not license a parallel bent + to-infinitive complement for that same meaning.
Cambridge directly records certain + to-infinitive and certain of + noun, allowing the two attested structures to be compared without claiming they are freely interchangeable.
