Restrict Yourself To Doing vs. Restrict Yourself To Do
Oxford directly documents restrict yourself to doing something for limiting yourself to a particular activity. This is a prepositional-to construction. Do not replace the gerund with a to-infinitive merely because both forms contain to.
Use restrict yourself to + -ing for the documented activity complement.
Key details
Choose the right form
| Meaning / situation | Form / construction | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| limit your own activity to one action or class of actions | restrict yourself to + -ing | Treat “to” as a preposition and follow it with an -ing form for an activity. |
| limit yourself to a thing, amount, or category | restrict yourself to + noun | A noun phrase can follow the same preposition. |
| use bare “restrict yourself to do” as the parallel activity complement | not the documented parallel pattern | Do not reinterpret the prepositional “to” as an infinitive marker. |
Quick tests
Meaning / construction test
Are you limiting yourself to an activity?
If yes: Use “restrict yourself to doing.”
If no: If the limit is a noun or amount, use “restrict yourself to” plus that noun; bare “restrict yourself to do” is not the documented parallel activity complement.
Examples
For this draft, restrict yourself to correcting factual errors.
The -ing clause names the activity being limited.
I restricted myself to asking one follow-up question.
“To” is prepositional before the -ing activity.
She restricted herself to two examples.
A noun phrase can follow the same construction.
Further guidance
Boundary
This is a prepositional-to construction. Do not replace the gerund with a to-infinitive merely because both forms contain to.
Construction
Oxford directly documents restrict yourself to doing something for limiting yourself to a particular activity.
Decision
Use restrict yourself to + -ing for the documented activity 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.
- restrict (opens in a new tab)Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries · Preferred lexical authority directly documenting restrict yourself to doing something.