Compliment Someone On Doing vs. Compliment Someone To Do

Key details

Confusion Familygrammar-and-usage distinction

Rule Familypreposition and verb-complement pattern

TermsCompliment Someone On Doing, Compliment Someone To Do

Choose the right form

Decision table for Compliment Someone On Doing vs. Compliment Someone To Do
Meaning / situation	Form / construction	Decision
praise a person for an action	compliment + person + on + -ing	Use “on” before the praised action.
praise a person for a noun phrase or result	compliment + person + on + noun phrase	Use the same documented “on” pattern.

Quick tests

Meaning / construction test

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

If yes: Use “compliment someone on” + -ing/noun phrase.

If no: Do not create a parallel “compliment someone to do” complement from this pattern.

Caveat: Choose by the documented meaning or construction; a different pattern may be valid in a different sentence structure.

Examples

Example

She complimented him on handling the questions calmly.

The -ing phrase names the praised action.

Example

They complimented the team on its clear presentation.

A noun phrase names what was praised.

Example

I complimented Maya on finishing the draft early.

“On” introduces the action that receives praise.

Further guidance

Boundary

A later to-infinitive can belong to another clause or purpose expression, but it does not replace on when it names what the compliment concerns.

Construction

The conventional praise pattern is compliment + person + on + noun/-ing clause.

Decision

Use “compliment someone on doing something” when the action is what you praise. “Compliment someone to do” is not the parallel compliment construction.

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.

Compliment — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Compliment noun and verb meanings

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.

Explore the topic

Grammar Verb Forms