Deceive Someone Into Doing vs. Deceive Someone To Do
Cambridge directly documents deceive + object + into + -ing for causing a person to do or believe something through falsehood or concealment. Deceive can also take ordinary objects and clauses about what is falsely believed; those are separate from the into + -ing action pattern.
Use “deceive someone into doing something” when deception causes the action; do not treat “deceive someone to do” as the parallel documented complement.
Key details
Choose the right form
| Meaning / situation | Form / construction | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| deception causes a person to perform an action | deceive someone into doing something | Use into + -ing. |
| deception concerns what someone believes | deceive someone about / into believing / clause patterns as supported by context | Do not collapse distinct complements into one rule. |
| object + to-infinitive is proposed as the equivalent action complement | do not assume equivalence | The reviewed action-causing pattern is into + -ing. |
Quick tests
Meaning / construction test
Did the deception cause the person to perform the action that follows?
If yes: Use “deceive someone into doing …”.
If no: Use a different supported complement if the sentence instead describes a false belief or another object of deception.
Caveat: Choose by the documented meaning or construction; a different pattern may be valid in a different sentence structure or variety.
Examples
The caller deceived her into sharing the code.
The deception caused the following action.
They were deceived into believing the message was genuine.
The into + -ing pattern can introduce the resulting belief.
The false notice deceived readers about the deadline.
A different complement expresses what the deception concerned.
Further guidance
Boundary
Deceive can also take ordinary objects and clauses about what is falsely believed; those are separate from the into + -ing action pattern.
Construction
Cambridge directly documents deceive + object + into + -ing for causing a person to do or believe something through falsehood or concealment.
Decision
Use “deceive someone into doing something” when deception causes the action; do not treat “deceive someone to do” as the parallel documented 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.
- deceive someone into doing something — Cambridge English Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge Dictionary · Deceive + object + into + -ing construction