Guilt Someone Into Doing vs. Guilt Someone To Do
Collins American English documents guilt as a verb for influencing behavior by arousing guilt and illustrates guilt + object + into + -ing. The cited evidence supports the into + -ing construction; it does not establish guilt + object + to-infinitive as an equally documented alternative.
Use “guilt someone into doing something” for the directly documented action pattern; do not infer equal support for “guilt someone to do.”
Key details
Choose the right form
| Meaning / situation | Form / construction | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| cause or pressure someone through guilt to perform an action | guilt + someone + into + -ing | Use the directly documented “into doing” pattern. |
| proposed equivalent with a to-infinitive | guilt + someone + to do | Do not treat this as the supported equivalent of the documented pattern. |
Quick tests
Meaning / construction test
Do you mean that guilt was used to pressure the person into an action?
If yes: Use “guilt someone into doing something.”
If no: Choose a different verb/construction if that is not the intended meaning.
Caveat: This guide is limited to the complement pattern supported by the reviewed source; it does not claim that every possible use of “guilt” has the same syntax.
Examples
They guilted him into attending the meeting.
The documented complement is “into” plus -ing.
She was guilted into apologizing.
The same pattern can appear in the passive.
Do not rewrite the pattern as “guilted him to attend.”
The to-infinitive is not the documented equivalent here.
Further guidance
Boundary
The cited evidence supports the into + -ing construction; it does not establish guilt + object + to-infinitive as an equally documented alternative.
Construction
Collins American English documents guilt as a verb for influencing behavior by arousing guilt and illustrates guilt + object + into + -ing.
Decision
Use “guilt someone into doing something” for the directly documented action pattern; do not infer equal support for “guilt someone to do.”
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.
- guilt — Collins English Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Collins Dictionary · American English verb sense and example showing guilt + object + into + doing