English UsageComparison guide

Be Keen On Doing vs. Keen To Do

Oxford directly documents keen on doing and keen to do. Both can express eagerness; the page therefore avoids inventing a rigid meaning split that the cited dictionary does not require.

Quick answer

Both “keen on doing” and “keen to do” are standard. Oxford documents both for eagerness or enthusiasm, so choose the structure that fits the sentence rather than treating one as ungrammatical.

Key details

Confusion Familyverb-complement
Rule Familyverb-complementation
Termskeen on doing, keen to do

Further guidance

Core difference

Both complement patterns are documented: keen on + -ing and keen + to-infinitive.

Style Boundary

Do not label either pattern universally wrong or infer a stronger semantic contrast than the authority supports.

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.

  1. keen adjective — Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Oxford University Press · Preferred-dictionary evidence for both keen on doing and keen to do constructions

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Be Averse To Doing vs. Averse To Do

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.

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Be Bent On Doing vs. Bent To Do

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.

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