Oxford documents “bear” with both -ing and to-infinitive complements in the “cannot tolerate” sense. There can be contextual preferences, but neither pattern is categorically the only correct form.
ReviewedEvidence1 sourceSectionEnglish Usage
Quick answer
Both “can’t bear doing” and “can’t bear to do” are standard for something so unpleasant that you find it very difficult to accept or do.
Key details
Confusion Familygrammar-and-usage distinction
Rule Familyverb complement pattern
TermsCan’t Bear Doing, Can’t Bear To Do
Further guidance
Construction Boundary
Keep this complement question separate from other meanings of “bear,” such as carry, support or take responsibility.
Meaning Boundary
Do not force a universal meaning split between the forms; Oxford gives both within the same accept/deal-with sense.
Shared Pattern
Use can’t/couldn’t bear + -ing or + to-infinitive when the meaning is being unable to tolerate an unpleasant experience or 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.
