“Continue” is documented with both -ing and to-infinitive complements. The pair normally describes persistence of the same activity, so it should not be given the meaning split associated with verbs such as “go on.”
ReviewedEvidence1 sourceSectionEnglish Usage
Quick answer
Both “continue doing” and “continue to do” are standard for keeping an activity going, and they often have the same practical meaning.
Key details
Confusion Familygrammar-and-usage distinction
Rule Familyverb complement pattern
TermsContinue Doing, Continue To Do
Further guidance
Comparison Boundary
Keep this guide separate from “go on doing” versus “go on to do,” where a genuine meaning contrast can occur.
Meaning Boundary
Do not impose a rule that the to-infinitive means changing to a new activity; Oxford examples show both forms for continued activity.
Shared Pattern
Use either continue + -ing or continue + to-infinitive to say that an activity keeps happening when the sentence remains clear.
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.
