Tell Someone To Do vs. Tell Doing
Tell + person + to-infinitive is a standard instruction pattern. Tell also supports information, clause, speech, and other complements, but bare tell + -ing is not the corresponding way to order a person to perform an action.
Use “tell someone to do something” for an instruction. Do not replace it with bare “tell doing something.”
Key details
Choose the right form
| Meaning | Pattern | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| give a person an instruction | tell + person + to + base verb | Use the documented instruction pattern. |
| report information | tell + person + clause/information | Use the separate reporting pattern that fits the message. |
| replace the instruction complement with bare -ing | tell doing | Do not treat this as the parallel command construction. |
Quick tests
Instruction-recipient test
Are you telling a specific person what action to perform?
If yes: Use “tell + person + to + base verb.”
If no: If you are reporting information, use the appropriate tell + object/clause pattern.
Caveat: An -ing form can occur elsewhere in a sentence, but it does not replace the person object + to-infinitive instruction construction documented here.
Examples
Tell the courier to leave the parcel at reception.
The recipient is named and the infinitive gives the instruction.
She told us to wait outside.
“Us” is the object receiving the instruction; “to wait” names the action.
He told the team that the meeting had moved.
This is the separate reporting pattern, not an instruction complement.
Further guidance
Boundary
A following -ing form may appear elsewhere in a sentence or in a different construction, but it does not replace the person object + to-infinitive command pattern.
Construction
Cambridge documents tell + object + to-infinitive for instructions alongside separate information and clause patterns.
Decision
For instructions, name the recipient and use a to-infinitive; use tell + clause/information patterns when the meaning is reporting rather than commanding.
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.
- tell — Cambridge English Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge Dictionary · Tell + object + to-infinitive for instructions and separate tell information/clause patterns