Scold Someone For Doing vs. Scold Someone To Do

Key details

Confusion Familygrammar-and-usage distinction

Rule Familypreposition and verb-complement pattern

TermsScold Someone For Doing, Scold Someone To Do

Choose the right form

Decision table for Scold Someone For Doing vs. Scold Someone To Do
Meaning / situation	Form / construction	Decision
state the behavior that caused the criticism	scold + person + for + noun/-ing	Use “for” to name the reason for the scolding.
give an instruction after or during a scolding	separate instruction construction	An instruction can follow, but “to + infinitive” is not the reason complement.
treat “scold someone to do” as parallel to “scold someone for doing”	not the documented reason pattern	Keep the reason and any instruction grammatically distinct.

Quick tests

Meaning / construction test

Are you naming what the person did that caused the scolding?

If yes: Use “scold someone for doing.”

If no: If you are giving an instruction, express that instruction separately rather than replacing the reason complement with “to + infinitive.”

Examples

Example

She scolded him for leaving the door open.

“For + -ing” names the behavior that caused the criticism.

Example

The teacher scolded the class for talking during the test.

The action after “for” is the reason for the scolding.

Example

She scolded him for being late and told him to call next time.

The reason complement and the later instruction are separate constructions.

Further guidance

Boundary

An instruction can follow a scolding in a separate construction, but that does not make to + infinitive the complement used to name the misconduct.

Construction

The reason for the criticism is expressed with scold + person + for + noun/-ing.

Decision

Use “scold someone for doing something” when the action explains why the person was scolded. “Scold someone to do” is not the parallel reason 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.

Scold — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge Dictionary · Current dictionary examples showing scold someone for the behavior being criticized.

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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