Cambridge directly records eager to do and eager for something. The guide compares those supported structures rather than manufacturing a gerund alternative.
ReviewedEvidence1 sourceSectionEnglish Usage
Quick answer
Use “eager to do something” before an action expressed by an infinitive, and “eager for something” before the object of eagerness. Both constructions are directly documented by Cambridge.
Key details
Confusion Familyverb-complement
Rule Familyverb-complementation
Termseager to do, eager for something
Further guidance
Core difference
Cambridge documents eager + to-infinitive and eager for + noun as standard constructions.
Style Boundary
Describe the attested complement choices without inventing an unsupported eager-for-doing versus eager-to-do rule.
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.
Eager↗ (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Direct dictionary evidence for eager + to-infinitive and eager for + noun.
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.
