Get Around To Doing vs. Get Around To Do

Key details

Confusion Familyverb complement choice

Rule Familyverb complement licensing

TermsGet Around To Doing, Get Around To Do

Choose the right form

Decision table for Get Around To Doing vs. Get Around To Do
Meaning / situation	Form / construction	Decision
finally find time for a delayed action	get around to + -ing	Use the documented phrasal construction.
purpose infinitive after a separate clause	to + infinitive may belong to another construction	Do not reinterpret the prepositional “to” in “get around to” as an infinitive marker.

Quick tests

Meaning / construction test

Are you using “get around to” to mean finally finding time to do something?

If yes: Follow it with the -ing form.

If no: Use a different construction if “to” belongs to a separate purpose infinitive.

Caveat: This page is limited to the phrasal construction meaning finally finding time for a delayed action.

Examples

Example

I finally got around to answering the message.

The -ing form follows the prepositional “to” in the phrasal construction.

Example

She never got around to booking the tickets.

The delayed action is expressed with -ing.

Example

We got around to discussing the budget after lunch.

The documented pattern is “get around to” plus -ing.

Further guidance

Boundary

The phrasal construction ends in prepositional to, so the following action is expressed with -ing in the documented pattern.

Construction

Cambridge documents get around to + -ing for finally finding time to do something after a delay.

Decision

Use get around to + -ing for the delayed action.

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.

get around to (opens in a new tab)Cambridge Dictionary · Preferred lexical authority directly documenting get around to + -ing.

Related guides

English Usage

Accustom Yourself To Doing vs. Accustom Yourself To Do

Cambridge directly gives accustom yourself to followed by an -ing form for becoming familiar with new conditions. The to belongs to the prepositional construction accustom yourself to something; do not infer an equivalent to-infinitive from the surface word to.

English Usage

Apply Yourself To Doing vs. Apply Yourself To Do

Oxford documents apply yourself to (doing) something for working hard and attentively at a task. This apply-yourself construction takes prepositional to; other senses of apply use different complements and should not be merged into this pattern.

English Usage

Be Busy Doing vs. Busy To Do

Cambridge directly documents busy + -ing for being occupied with an activity, and separately documents too busy to do something. Busy doing and too busy to do are different constructions with different meanings. Do not treat bare busy to do as a direct alternative to busy doing.

English Usage

Be Capable Of Doing vs. Capable To Do

Cambridge directly documents capable of something/doing something for having the ability, power, or qualities needed to do something. The documented adjective complement is capable of + noun or -ing form; do not replace the prepositional complement with capable to + infinitive on the basis of meaning alone.

English Usage

Be Good At Doing vs. Good To Do

Cambridge directly documents be good at something/doing something for being skilled or successful at an activity. Good to + infinitive can occur in other constructions and meanings, but it is not a substitute for the documented skill construction be good at + -ing.

English Usage

Be Reduced To Doing vs. Be Reduced To Do

Oxford directly documents reduce somebody/something to (doing) something, usually in the passive, for being forced into a worse state or action. Here to introduces the resulting state or activity; the authority does not establish an equivalent be reduced to + bare infinitive pattern.

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Grammar Verb Forms