Resort To Doing vs. Resort To Do

Key details

Confusion Familyverb complement choice

Rule Familyverb complement licensing

TermsResort To Doing, Resort To Do

Choose the right form

Decision table for Resort To Doing vs. Resort To Do
Meaning / situation	Form / construction	Decision
use an action as an undesirable or last-choice measure	resort to + -ing	Treat “to” as the preposition in “resort to”; use an -ing form for an action complement.
name a thing or measure used as the fallback	resort to + noun	A noun phrase can follow the same preposition.
use bare “resort to do” as the parallel action complement	not the documented parallel pattern	Do not replace the prepositional complement with a direct to-infinitive.

Quick tests

Meaning / construction test

Are you naming an action used as a fallback or last-choice measure?

If yes: Use “resort to doing.”

If no: If you are naming a thing, use “resort to” plus that noun; bare “resort to do” is not the documented parallel action complement.

Examples

Example

They resorted to borrowing equipment for the final test.

The -ing clause names the fallback action.

Example

We should not resort to guessing when the figures can be checked.

“To” remains the preposition before the -ing activity.

Example

The team resorted to a manual check.

A noun phrase can follow “resort to.”

Further guidance

Boundary

Here to is the preposition in resort to, not an infinitive marker; a different to-infinitive pattern is not licensed merely by analogy.

Construction

Oxford documents resort to doing something when someone turns to a course of action, often because other choices have failed.

Decision

Use resort to + -ing for the documented action complement.

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.

resort to (opens in a new tab)Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries · Preferred lexical authority directly documenting resort to doing something.

Related guides

English Usage

Accustom Yourself To Doing vs. Accustom Yourself To Do

Cambridge directly gives accustom yourself to followed by an -ing form for becoming familiar with new conditions. The to belongs to the prepositional construction accustom yourself to something; do not infer an equivalent to-infinitive from the surface word to.

English Usage

Apply Yourself To Doing vs. Apply Yourself To Do

Oxford documents apply yourself to (doing) something for working hard and attentively at a task. This apply-yourself construction takes prepositional to; other senses of apply use different complements and should not be merged into this pattern.

English Usage

Be Busy Doing vs. Busy To Do

Cambridge directly documents busy + -ing for being occupied with an activity, and separately documents too busy to do something. Busy doing and too busy to do are different constructions with different meanings. Do not treat bare busy to do as a direct alternative to busy doing.

English Usage

Be Capable Of Doing vs. Capable To Do

Cambridge directly documents capable of something/doing something for having the ability, power, or qualities needed to do something. The documented adjective complement is capable of + noun or -ing form; do not replace the prepositional complement with capable to + infinitive on the basis of meaning alone.

English Usage

Be Good At Doing vs. Good To Do

Cambridge directly documents be good at something/doing something for being skilled or successful at an activity. Good to + infinitive can occur in other constructions and meanings, but it is not a substitute for the documented skill construction be good at + -ing.

English Usage

Be Reduced To Doing vs. Be Reduced To Do

Oxford directly documents reduce somebody/something to (doing) something, usually in the passive, for being forced into a worse state or action. Here to introduces the resulting state or activity; the authority does not establish an equivalent be reduced to + bare infinitive pattern.

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Grammar Verb Forms