Cambridge documents both force + person + to-infinitive and, in Business English, force + person + into + noun/-ing. Both express compulsion, with the into construction often presenting the person as pushed into a situation, course, or activity.
ReviewedEvidence1 sourceSectionEnglish Usage
Quick answer
Both are standard: “force someone to do something” is the general causative pattern; “force someone into doing something” is also used when the into construction emphasizes being pushed into the activity or situation.
Key details
Confusion Familygrammar-and-usage distinction
Rule Familypreposition and verb-complement pattern
TermsForce Someone To Do, Force Someone Into Doing
Further guidance
Boundary
Do not assume every “into” sequence requires an -ing clause: the complement after into can also be a noun phrase such as “into a high-paying job.”
Construction
Force supports person + to-infinitive and person + into + noun/-ing. The latter belongs to a broader force someone into something construction.
Decision
Both are standard: “force someone to do something” is the general causative pattern; “force someone into doing something” is also used when the into construction emphasizes being pushed into the activity or situation.
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 records “accuse someone of something” and specifically “accuse someone of doing something.” That supports of + -ing when the action is the alleged wrongdoing.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
