Enjoy Doing vs. Enjoy To Do
Enjoy takes an -ing complement when it is followed by another verb: “enjoy reading,” “enjoy meeting people.” A direct “enjoy to read” pattern is not standard in the reviewed construction.
Use “enjoy doing,” not “enjoy to do,” when you mean getting pleasure from an activity. Cambridge explicitly uses the -ing form after enjoy and rejects the direct to-infinitive.
Key details
Choose the right form
| Meaning / situation | Form / construction | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| enjoy is followed directly by another verb naming the pleasurable activity | enjoy + -ing | Use the gerund-participial complement. |
| a direct to-infinitive is proposed after enjoy | do not use enjoy + to-infinitive for this construction | The reviewed Cambridge grammar explicitly uses -ing and rejects the direct to-infinitive pattern. |
| enjoy is followed by a noun or pronoun | enjoy + noun / pronoun | No verb-complement choice is needed in that case. |
Quick tests
Meaning / construction test
Is “enjoy” followed directly by another verb naming the activity?
If yes: Use the -ing form.
If no: If a noun follows, use it normally; do not substitute a direct to-infinitive for the documented verb-complement pattern.
Caveat: This guidance concerns the complement directly after “enjoy.” It does not claim that every later verb anywhere in the sentence must be an -ing form.
Examples
I enjoy reading on the train.
The activity after “enjoy” uses the -ing form.
They enjoyed meeting the new team.
The past-tense verb still takes an -ing complement.
She enjoys quiet mornings.
A noun phrase can follow “enjoy” directly, so no infinitive-versus-gerund choice arises.
Further guidance
Boundary
Enjoy can also take a noun or reflexive object, so the -ing rule applies specifically when the complement itself is another verb.
Construction
Cambridge’s grammar entry states that enjoy is followed by the -ing form and not by a to-infinitive.
Decision
Choose “enjoy doing” for an activity that gives pleasure.
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.
- Enjoy — Cambridge Grammar (opens in a new tab)Cambridge Dictionary / English Grammar Today · Enjoy + -ing and rejection of direct enjoy + to-infinitive
- Verb patterns: verb + infinitive or verb + -ing? (opens in a new tab)Cambridge Dictionary · Verb-complement patterns, including verbs taking -ing, to-infinitive, or both with meaning differences