Suspect Someone Of Doing vs. Suspect Someone To Do
Cambridge records “suspect someone of something/doing something” when the person is believed to have committed a crime or done something wrong.
Use “suspect someone of doing something” when naming the suspected wrongdoing. “Suspect someone to do” is not the parallel wrongdoing complement.
Key details
Choose the right form
| Meaning / structure | Use | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| believe a person may be responsible for an act | suspect + person + of + noun/-ing | Use the documented wrongdoing complement. |
| state a proposition you think may be true | suspect + (that) clause | Use a clause when the suspected content is a full proposition. |
| direct object + to-infinitive for the alleged act | suspect someone to do | Do not treat this as the parallel wrongdoing pattern. |
Quick tests
Wrongdoing-complement test
Are you naming the act or wrongdoing attributed to a particular person?
If yes: Use “suspect someone of + -ing/noun.”
If no: If the suspected content is a whole proposition, use a clause rather than forcing an object + to-infinitive pattern.
Caveat: This guide concerns the reviewed “suspect someone of …” construction; other senses of “suspect” can use different clause structures.
Examples
Police suspected him of altering the records.
The person is followed by “of + -ing” to name the suspected act.
She suspected the contractor of overcharging clients.
The alleged action follows the object in the documented construction.
I suspect that the figures were copied from an older report.
A clause expresses the suspected proposition without the object + wrongdoing pattern.
Further guidance
Boundary
Other uses of suspect can take clauses such as “suspect that …”; those are separate constructions and do not make “suspect someone to do” the matching wrongdoing frame.
Construction
The wrongdoing pattern is suspect + person + of + noun/-ing clause.
Decision
Use “suspect someone of doing something” when naming the suspected wrongdoing. “Suspect someone to do” is not the parallel wrongdoing 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.
- Suspect — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge Dictionary · Current dictionary construction showing suspect someone of something/doing something.