Imagine Someone Doing vs. Imagine Someone To Do
Imagine readily licenses a new subject before an -ing form. Oxford also records object + to-infinitive uses, but that pattern is more restricted and formal; avoid treating any arbitrary “imagine someone to do” sentence as a direct substitute for the -ing form.
“Imagine someone doing” is the ordinary pattern for picturing an action. An object + to-infinitive pattern exists in more limited/formal uses, especially with “to be,” so the two are not freely interchangeable.
Key details
Choose the right form
| Meaning / situation | Form / construction | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| picture a person performing an action | imagine + person + -ing | Use this as the ordinary action-picturing pattern. |
| more formal or limited object + to-infinitive use, especially “to be” | imagine + person + to be … | Use only where that established construction is idiomatic. |
Quick tests
Meaning / construction test
Are you picturing the person in the middle of or engaged in an action?
If yes: Use “imagine someone doing …”.
If no: Use an object + to-infinitive only where the formal construction is independently idiomatic, especially with “to be.”
Caveat: The object + to-infinitive construction is more limited; its existence does not make every “imagine someone to do X” sentence natural.
Examples
I can imagine Maya leading the project.
The -ing construction pictures Maya performing the action.
Imagine them working together every day.
Object + -ing is the ordinary action-picturing pattern.
It is difficult to imagine him to be dishonest.
This illustrates the more formal object + “to be” construction rather than a freely interchangeable lexical “to do” pattern.
Further guidance
Boundary
The existence of an object + to-infinitive pattern does not make every lexical “to do” continuation natural; context and the following verb matter.
Construction
Cambridge documents imagine + object + -ing; Oxford also records a more limited object + to-infinitive construction.
Decision
Default to imagine someone doing for picturing an action. Use an object + to-infinitive only where that formal construction is idiomatic, especially established patterns such as imagine someone to be.
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.
- imagine — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge Dictionary · Imagine + -ing and that-clause patterns for forming a mental picture or considering a situation
- imagine — Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries (opens in a new tab)Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries · Direct imagine + object + -ing and formal imagine + object + to-infinitive patterns