Cambridge documents motivate + person + to-infinitive for making someone eager to act; it also documents other transitive and passive motivation patterns rather than a parallel bare -ing complement. A gerund phrase can behave as a noun in broader syntax, but that does not create the same participant structure as motivate + person + to-infinitive.
ReviewedEvidence1 sourceSectionEnglish Usage
Quick answer
Use “motivate someone to do something” when a person is encouraged toward an action; do not treat “motivate doing” as the interchangeable object-complement pattern.
Key details
Confusion Familygrammar-and-usage distinction
Rule Familyverb-complement and object pattern
TermsMotivate Someone To Do, Motivate Doing
Further guidance
Boundary
A gerund phrase can behave as a noun in broader syntax, but that does not create the same participant structure as motivate + person + to-infinitive.
Construction
Cambridge documents motivate + person + to-infinitive for making someone eager to act; it also documents other transitive and passive motivation patterns rather than a parallel bare -ing complement.
Decision
Use “motivate someone to do something” when a person is encouraged toward an action; do not treat “motivate doing” as the interchangeable object-complement pattern.
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.
Oxford directly documents “argue somebody into doing something” for persuading somebody by giving reasons. The cited construction evidence directly supports into + -ing; it does not license “argue someone to do” as an equivalent complement pattern.
When ask means request an action from a person, Cambridge documents ask + person + to-infinitive. Bare “ask doing” is not the ordinary request complement for that meaning.
Cambridge directly documents both badger + object + into + -ing and badger + object + to-infinitive for repeated pressure or requests that push someone toward an action. The verb also covers repeated questioning, so context must show whether the sentence is about persistent persuasion or interrogation rather than assuming every use names a requested action.
Cambridge directly illustrates bamboozle + object + into + -ing for deceiving someone so that the person takes an action. The cited entry does not establish bamboozle + object + to-infinitive as an equally documented alternative, so this guide does not manufacture a two-way rule.
Cambridge explicitly documents beg + object + to-infinitive for an urgent request and also records beg for + noun and other request patterns. A following -ing form may appear elsewhere in a sentence, but it is not the ordinary replacement for the documented object + to-infinitive request construction.
Cambridge gives direct evidence for beguile someone into doing something in the literary persuade/attract/deceive sense. The cited entry supports the into + -ing construction; it does not establish beguile + object + to-infinitive as an equivalent pattern for this meaning.
