Cambridge directly records hesitant + to-infinitive and hesitant about + noun/activity.
ReviewedEvidence1 sourceSectionEnglish Usage
Quick answer
Use “hesitant to do something” when the uncertainty is about taking an action. Use “hesitant about something” when the complement names the proposal, matter, or activity causing hesitation.
Key details
Confusion Familyverb-complement
Rule Familyverb-complementation
Termshesitant to do, hesitant about something
Further guidance
Core difference
Cambridge documents hesitant + to-infinitive and hesitant about + noun/activity as standard patterns.
Style Boundary
Use about for the matter toward which uncertainty is directed; use to + base verb when hesitation concerns performing the infinitive action.
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.
Hesitant↗ (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Direct learner-dictionary evidence for hesitant + to-infinitive and hesitant about + noun/activity.
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.
