Hustle Someone Into Doing vs. Hustle Someone To Do
Collins documents a transitive pressure/coercion sense of hustle and illustrates it with a person being hustled into buying more. The cited dictionary evidence supports the into + -ing action pattern but does not establish hustle + object + to-infinitive as an equally documented alternative in this sense.
Use “hustle someone into doing something” for the directly illustrated pressure/coercion pattern; do not infer equal support for “hustle someone to do.”
Key details
Choose the right form
| Meaning / situation | Form / construction | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| pressure or push a person into an action | hustle + person + into + -ing | Use the directly illustrated “into doing” pattern. |
| proposed direct to-infinitive equivalent | hustle + person + to do | Do not treat this as equally supported for the same coercive sense. |
Quick tests
Meaning / construction test
Does “hustle” mean pressuring or pushing someone into the following action?
If yes: Use “hustle someone into doing something.”
If no: Choose a different construction unless the cited coercive sense applies.
Caveat: The evidence supports the pressure/coercion sense with “into + -ing”; it does not establish a free interchange with object + to-infinitive.
Examples
They hustled him into signing before he had time to reconsider.
“Into signing” names the action produced by pressure.
The seller hustled customers into buying the larger package.
The directly illustrated complement is “into + -ing.”
She felt hustled into making a quick decision.
The passive form preserves the same complement pattern.
Further guidance
Boundary
The cited dictionary evidence supports the into + -ing action pattern but does not establish hustle + object + to-infinitive as an equally documented alternative in this sense.
Construction
Collins documents a transitive pressure/coercion sense of hustle and illustrates it with a person being hustled into buying more.
Decision
Use “hustle someone into doing something” for the directly illustrated pressure/coercion pattern; do not infer equal support for “hustle 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.
- hustle — Collins English Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Collins Dictionary · Dictionary pressure/coercion sense with an example of hustling someone into buying