Cambridge directly documents be dying for/to do something as an informal expression of strong desire, supporting both complement patterns without extrapolation.
ReviewedEvidence1 sourceSectionEnglish Usage
Quick answer
Use “be dying to do something” before an action and “be dying for something” before the thing strongly wanted. Cambridge marks the expression as informal.
Key details
Confusion Familyverb-complement
Rule Familyverb-complementation
Termsbe dying to do, be dying for something
Further guidance
Core difference
Cambridge documents the informal idiom be dying to do something and be dying for something for strong desire.
Style Boundary
Keep the idiomatic for + noun and to-infinitive patterns distinct; this usage is informal and figurative.
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.
Cambridge directly records amazed + to-infinitive and amazed at + complement, making it an evidence-safe replacement for the unsupported Satisfied proposal.
Oxford directly records both ashamed + to-infinitive and ashamed of + noun/pronoun. The guide compares those attested structures without inventing an unsupported parallel complement.
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.
