“Prefer” can take either an -ing form or a to-infinitive, and the difference is often small. Cambridge notes an emphasis tendency rather than an absolute rule, with the to-infinitive more common overall.
ReviewedEvidence1 sourceSectionEnglish Usage
Quick answer
Both are standard. “Prefer doing” can put more focus on the activity or experience; “prefer to do” is very common for a preference or habitual choice.
Key details
Confusion Familygrammar-and-usage distinction
Rule Familyverb complement pattern
Termsprefer doing, prefer to do
Further guidance
Emphasis
The -ing form can emphasize the activity or experience, while the to-infinitive can emphasize the preference, result or habitual choice.
Shared Pattern
Use either prefer + -ing or prefer + to-infinitive when the intended meaning fits; neither form is categorically wrong.
Would Boundary
With would prefer for a present or future choice, 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.
