Cambridge documents seek + to-infinitive for trying to act and seek + noun for searching for or attempting to obtain something. Bare “seek doing” is not the direct alternative to the documented to-infinitive construction.
ReviewedEvidence2 sourcesSectionEnglish Usage
Quick answer
Use “seek to do” in the formal sense “try or attempt to do.” Use seek + noun when looking for or trying to obtain a person, thing or result. Bare “seek doing” is not the direct alternative to the documented to-infinitive construction.
Key details
Confusion Familygrammar-and-usage distinction
Rule Familyverb complement pattern
TermsSeek Doing, Seek To Do
Further guidance
Boundary
Bare “seek doing” is not the direct alternative to the documented to-infinitive construction.
Construction
Cambridge documents seek + to-infinitive for trying to act and seek + noun for searching for or attempting to obtain something.
Decision
Use “seek to do” in the formal sense “try or attempt to do.” Use seek + noun when looking for or trying to obtain a person, thing or result.
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.
