Oxford directly records ready + to-infinitive and ready for + noun, supporting a narrow comparison of the two standard patterns.
ReviewedEvidence1 sourceSectionEnglish Usage
Quick answer
Use “ready to do something” when readiness is followed by an action. Use “ready for something” when the complement names the event, situation, or thing being prepared for.
Key details
Confusion Familyverb-complement
Rule Familyverb-complementation
Termsready to do, ready for something
Further guidance
Core difference
Oxford documents ready + to-infinitive and ready for + noun as standard complement patterns.
Style Boundary
Keep for before noun/event complements; use to + base verb for the infinitive action pattern.
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.
Ready↗ (opens in a new tab)Oxford University Press · Direct learner-dictionary evidence for ready for + noun and ready + 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 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.
