Charge Someone With Doing vs. Charge Someone To Do
Cambridge distinguishes “charge someone with something/doing something” for accusation from charge + person + to-infinitive patterns used in other senses, such as requiring payment to do something.
Use “charge someone with doing something” for an accusation. A form such as “charge someone to do something” belongs to another sense, commonly a fee/payment construction, not the accusation pattern.
Key details
Choose the right form
| Meaning / situation | Construction | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| accuse someone formally of an act or offense | charge + person + with + noun/-ing | use the accusation pattern |
| ask a price or assign a responsibility | charge + amount / charge + person + with a task | separate senses require different complements |
Quick tests
Accusation test
Do you mean formally accuse someone of an action?
If yes: Use “charge someone with doing something.”
If no: If “charge” means demand a price or assign responsibility, use the construction for that separate sense.
Caveat: Do not use “charge someone to do” as an interchangeable accusation pattern.
Examples
Police charged him with damaging the property.
The accusation pattern uses “with” plus the act.
The hotel charged us fifty dollars for parking.
This is the payment sense, not an accusation.
They charged her to falsify the report.
Better: They charged her with falsifying the report.
For an accusation, use “charged her with falsifying.”
Further guidance
Boundary
Do not “correct” every charge + person + to-infinitive sequence to with + -ing: first identify whether charge means accuse or instead concerns payment, permission, or another sentence function.
Construction
For an accusation, use charge + person + with + noun/-ing. Charge + person + to-infinitive can occur with other meanings and must not be treated as an interchangeable accusation complement.
Decision
Use “charge someone with doing something” for an accusation. A form such as “charge someone to do something” belongs to another sense, commonly a fee/payment construction, not the accusation 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.
- Charge — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge Dictionary · Current dictionary constructions distinguish charge someone with something/doing something from other charge + person + to-infinitive uses, including fee contexts.