Oxford documents both complement patterns for “bother” meaning spend time or energy on an action. The pair should not be turned into an absolute meaning distinction; the surrounding construction and tone do most of the work.
ReviewedEvidence1 sourceSectionEnglish Usage
Quick answer
Both “bother doing” and “bother to do” are standard in the effort sense, especially in negatives and questions.
Key details
Confusion Familygrammar-and-usage distinction
Rule Familyverb complement pattern
TermsBother Doing, Bother To Do
Further guidance
Context
Negative and interrogative uses are especially common, as in “Why bother asking?” or “He didn’t bother to reply.”
Meaning Boundary
Do not teach that the to-infinitive is inherently criticism while -ing is inherently advice; both patterns occur across contexts.
Shared Pattern
Use bother + -ing or bother + to-infinitive when the meaning is spending time or effort on the 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.
Cambridge documents both admit + -ing and admit to + -ing for acknowledging something. Other passive patterns such as “be admitted to be” are separate constructions.
Both patterns are standard. “Advise waiting” recommends an action generally or in context, while “advise him to wait” names the person who is advised to perform it. A that-clause is another standard option.
When “afford” is followed directly by another verb, standard learner references use a to-infinitive: “afford to do.” An -ing form can appear elsewhere in a sentence, but it is not a like-for-like direct complement after “afford.”
“Agree to do” expresses consent to take an action. An -ing form normally follows a preposition in patterns such as “agree with doing,” which expresses approval rather than the direct promise-to-act construction.
Cambridge documents aim + to-infinitive for intention and aim at for directing effort toward an objective. Do not omit the preposition and present bare “aim doing” as equivalent to “aim to do.”
“Allow” can take an activity as its object, as in “allow smoking,” or a person/thing followed by a to-infinitive, as in “allow visitors to enter.” The patterns answer different structural questions: what is allowed versus who is allowed to do what.
