“Love” accepts both -ing and to-infinitive complements. Cambridge describes only a small meaning difference and notes that the -ing form is more common after love in the general pattern it discusses.
ReviewedEvidence1 sourceSectionEnglish Usage
Quick answer
Both are standard. “Love doing” commonly foregrounds enjoyment of the activity; “love to do” is also possible and can place more emphasis on the preference or result.
Key details
Confusion Familygrammar-and-usage distinction
Rule Familyverb complement pattern
Termslove doing, love to do
Further guidance
Infinitive Emphasis
Love + to-infinitive is also standard and can emphasize the preference, result or chosen action rather than the experience alone.
Ing Emphasis
Use love + -ing when emphasizing enjoyment of the action or experience itself.
Would Boundary
With would love, use a to-infinitive rather than an -ing form.
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.
