Cambridge documents both “permit + -ing” and “permit + object + to-infinitive.” The first foregrounds the permitted activity; the second identifies the person or thing permitted to perform it.
ReviewedEvidence1 sourceSectionEnglish Usage
Quick answer
Use “permit + -ing” when the permitted action itself is the object; use “permit + person + to-infinitive” when you name who is permitted to act.
Key details
Confusion Familygrammar-and-usage distinction
Rule Familyverb complement pattern
Termspermit doing, permit someone to do
Further guidance
Ing Pattern
Use permit + -ing when the activity itself is what the rule or authority permits.
Object Pattern
Use permit + person/thing + to-infinitive when the sentence identifies who or what is permitted to perform the action.
Register Boundary
Permit is relatively formal compared with allow or let, so the construction is common in rules, policies and official contexts.
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.
