Oxford separates the intransitive offensive-language sense from the promise pattern “swear to do.” The page keeps those senses distinct instead of treating “swear doing” as an alternate complement.
ReviewedEvidence2 sourcesSectionEnglish Usage
Quick answer
Use “swear to do” for a serious promise to perform an action. “Swearing” can also mean using offensive language, but that is a different sense and not a gerund complement after “swear.”
Key details
Confusion Familygrammar-and-usage distinction
Rule Familyverb complement pattern
TermsSwear Doing, Swear To Do
Further guidance
Decision
For the promise meaning, use “swear to do.”
Promise Pattern
Use swear + to-infinitive for a serious promise about a future action.
Sense Boundary
“Swearing” may refer to using rude or offensive language; that is a lexical sense of the verb, not the direct complement pattern “swear doing.”
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.
