Concentrate On Doing vs. Concentrate To Do

Key details

Confusion Familygrammar-and-usage distinction

Rule Familypreposition and verb-complement pattern

TermsConcentrate On Doing, Concentrate To Do

Choose the right form

Decision table for Concentrate On Doing vs. Concentrate To Do
Meaning / situation	Form / construction	Decision
name the activity receiving attention	concentrate on + -ing	Use the documented complement pattern.
name a noun/topic receiving attention	concentrate on + noun/topic	Use “on” before the focus.

Quick tests

Meaning / construction test

Does the following phrase name the activity that receives the person’s attention?

If yes: Use “concentrate on” + -ing.

If no: A separate to-infinitive may express another function such as purpose, but it is not the parallel complement here.

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

Examples

Example

Please concentrate on checking the totals.

The -ing phrase names the activity receiving attention.

Example

The discussion concentrated on costs.

A noun names the focus.

Example

She closed the door to concentrate on writing.

The sentence may contain another “to” elsewhere, while the focus still follows “on.”

Further guidance

Boundary

A separate to-infinitive may occur in a larger sentence for a different function such as purpose. This guide covers only the complement that names what someone concentrates on.

Construction

Cambridge directly records concentrate on doing something for giving most of your attention to one activity.

Decision

Use “concentrate on doing” when naming the activity receiving your attention. “Concentrate to do” is not the parallel direct-complement 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.

concentrate — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge Dictionary · Dictionary evidence for concentrate on doing 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.

Explore the topic

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