Commend Someone For Doing vs. Commend Someone To Do

Key details

Confusion Familygrammar-and-usage distinction

Rule Familypreposition and verb-complement pattern

TermsCommend Someone For Doing, Commend Someone To Do

Choose the right form

Decision table for Commend Someone For Doing vs. Commend Someone To Do
Meaning / situation	Form / construction	Decision
praise a person for an action	commend someone for + -ing	Use this pattern to name the praised action.
praise a person in relation to something	commend someone on + noun/gerund	Cambridge also documents the “on” pattern.

Quick tests

Praise-pattern test

Are you naming the action for which the person is being praised?

If yes: Use “commend someone for doing …” (or the documented “commend someone on …” pattern where it fits).

If no: Do not treat “commend someone to do” as the parallel praise construction.

Examples

Example

The panel commended Maya for resolving the issue quickly.

“For” introduces the action being praised.

Example

The chair commended the team on its careful preparation.

Cambridge also documents “commend someone on something.”

Example

Use an established praise pattern rather than forcing a “commend someone to do” complement.

The reviewed source supports “for” and “on” constructions for praise.

Further guidance

Boundary

Do not confuse this praise construction with other senses of commend, including “commend something/someone to” another person or audience.

Construction

For praise, commend commonly takes person + for + noun/-ing; commend + person + on + noun is another supported pattern.

Decision

Use “commend someone for doing something” to name the action being praised. “Commend someone to do” is not the parallel praise complement.

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.

Commend — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge Dictionary · Current dictionary constructions showing commend someone for something and commend someone on something.

Related guides

English Usage

Accuse Someone Of Doing vs. Accuse Someone To Do

Cambridge records “accuse someone of something” and specifically “accuse someone of doing something.” That supports of + -ing when the action is the alleged wrongdoing.

English Usage

Accustomed To Doing vs. Accustomed To Do

Cambridge records accustomed to something and gives -ing examples such as being accustomed to working or being treated in a particular way. Do not interpret the “to” after accustomed as an infinitive marker in this construction.

English Usage

Adapt To Doing vs. Adapt To Do

Cambridge distinguishes adapt to a situation or activity from transitive patterns such as adapting plans to fit new circumstances. The surface sequence “adapt … to + verb” therefore needs its grammatical structure identified before choosing an -ing form or infinitive.

English Usage

Apologize For Doing vs. Apologize To Do

Cambridge distinguishes “apologize to someone” from “apologize for something/doing something.” You can combine the two roles, as in “apologize to someone for doing something”; “to” marks the recipient while “for” marks the reason.

English Usage

Approve Of Doing vs. Approve To Do

Cambridge distinguishes intransitive “approve of” for a favorable opinion from transitive “approve something” for official acceptance or authorization. The official-authorization sense uses transitive “approve” with an object; do not collapse that separate sense into the “approve of doing” judgment pattern.

English Usage

Ban Someone From Doing vs. Ban Someone To Do

Oxford documents the person-action pattern as be banned + from + -ing and separately documents direct-object uses of ban. The cited evidence does not support person + to-infinitive as the equivalent prohibition construction.

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Grammar Verb Forms