Cambridge documents both forms: “help someone do” and “help someone to do,” as well as help followed by an infinitive without an object. The presence of “to” is optional in this construction rather than a change of core meaning.
ReviewedEvidence1 sourceSectionEnglish Usage
Quick answer
Both “help do” and “help to do” are standard. After “help,” the following infinitive may appear with or without “to,” including after an object.
Key details
Confusion Familygrammar-and-usage distinction
Rule Familyverb complement pattern
Termshelp do, help to do
Further guidance
Ing Boundary
For the ordinary “make easier” construction, do not replace these infinitive patterns with direct help + -ing merely because another verb follows.
With To
Use help + to-infinitive, including help someone to do something; this is also standard.
Without To
Use help + infinitive without to, including help someone do something; this is a standard construction.
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 documents both admit + -ing and admit to + -ing for acknowledging something. Other passive patterns such as “be admitted to be” are separate constructions.
Both patterns are standard. “Advise waiting” recommends an action generally or in context, while “advise him to wait” names the person who is advised to perform it. A that-clause is another standard option.
When “afford” is followed directly by another verb, standard learner references use a to-infinitive: “afford to do.” An -ing form can appear elsewhere in a sentence, but it is not a like-for-like direct complement after “afford.”
“Agree to do” expresses consent to take an action. An -ing form normally follows a preposition in patterns such as “agree with doing,” which expresses approval rather than the direct promise-to-act construction.
Cambridge documents aim + to-infinitive for intention and aim at for directing effort toward an objective. Do not omit the preposition and present bare “aim doing” as equivalent to “aim to do.”
“Allow” can take an activity as its object, as in “allow smoking,” or a person/thing followed by a to-infinitive, as in “allow visitors to enter.” The patterns answer different structural questions: what is allowed versus who is allowed to do what.
