Oxford documents prepare + to-infinitive for getting ready to act and prepare for + noun for getting ready for an event or situation. An -ing activity can follow the preposition “for,” which is a different construction from bare prepare + -ing.
ReviewedEvidence2 sourcesSectionEnglish Usage
Quick answer
Use “prepare to do” when getting ready to perform the action. Use “prepare for” before a noun or activity when getting ready for an event or situation; bare “prepare doing” is not the equivalent complement.
Key details
Confusion Familygrammar-and-usage distinction
Rule Familyverb complement pattern
TermsPrepare Doing, Prepare To Do
Further guidance
Decision
Use prepare to do for readiness to perform the action; use prepare for + noun/activity for readiness for an event or situation.
For Pattern
If an -ing activity follows “prepare for,” the gerund is the object of the preposition “for,” not a direct complement of “prepare.”
To Infinitive
Use prepare + to-infinitive when the subject is getting ready to perform the following action.
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.
