Refrain From Doing vs. Refrain To Do

Key details

Confusion Familygrammar-and-usage distinction

Rule Familypreposition and verb-complement pattern

TermsRefrain From Doing, Refrain To Do

Choose the right form

Decision table for Refrain From Doing vs. Refrain To Do
Meaning / situation	Form / construction	Decision
deliberately avoid an action	refrain from + -ing	Use “from” plus the avoided activity.
deliberately avoid a noun-like activity or behavior	refrain from + noun/-ing	The complement follows the preposition “from.”
use direct “refrain to do” as the parallel action complement	not the documented equivalent	Do not substitute a to-infinitive for this meaning.

Quick tests

Meaning / construction test

Are you naming the action someone deliberately avoids?

If yes: Use “refrain from doing.”

If no: If the meaning is different, choose another construction; direct “refrain to do” is not the parallel complement.

Examples

Example

Please refrain from using your phone during the session.

“From” plus -ing names the avoided action.

Example

She refrained from commenting on the dispute.

The -ing form follows the preposition “from.”

Example

They refrained from making a final judgment.

The construction expresses deliberate avoidance of the action.

Further guidance

Boundary

This guide is about the complement after refrain. It does not ban every later to-infinitive in a larger sentence when that infinitive serves a different purpose.

Construction

The conventional complement is refrain from + -ing when the avoided action is named.

Decision

Use “refrain from doing” when you mean deliberately avoid an action. “Refrain to do” is not the parallel direct-complement construction.

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.

refrain — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge Dictionary · Current dictionary construction showing refrain from + -ing.

Related guides

English Usage

Accuse Someone Of Doing vs. Accuse Someone To Do

Cambridge records “accuse someone of something” and specifically “accuse someone of doing something.” That supports of + -ing when the action is the alleged wrongdoing.

English Usage

Accustomed To Doing vs. Accustomed To Do

Cambridge records accustomed to something and gives -ing examples such as being accustomed to working or being treated in a particular way. Do not interpret the “to” after accustomed as an infinitive marker in this construction.

English Usage

Adapt To Doing vs. Adapt To Do

Cambridge distinguishes adapt to a situation or activity from transitive patterns such as adapting plans to fit new circumstances. The surface sequence “adapt … to + verb” therefore needs its grammatical structure identified before choosing an -ing form or infinitive.

English Usage

Apologize For Doing vs. Apologize To Do

Cambridge distinguishes “apologize to someone” from “apologize for something/doing something.” You can combine the two roles, as in “apologize to someone for doing something”; “to” marks the recipient while “for” marks the reason.

English Usage

Approve Of Doing vs. Approve To Do

Cambridge distinguishes intransitive “approve of” for a favorable opinion from transitive “approve something” for official acceptance or authorization. The official-authorization sense uses transitive “approve” with an object; do not collapse that separate sense into the “approve of doing” judgment pattern.

English Usage

Ban Someone From Doing vs. Ban Someone To Do

Oxford documents the person-action pattern as be banned + from + -ing and separately documents direct-object uses of ban. The cited evidence does not support person + to-infinitive as the equivalent prohibition construction.

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