Oxford documents ordinary want + to-infinitive for desire and an informal “want doing” construction meaning that something needs an action. The page treats the difference as both construction and meaning, not free alternation.
ReviewedEvidence2 sourcesSectionEnglish Usage
Quick answer
Use “want to do” for a desired action by the subject. In informal British English, “want doing” can mean “need to be done,” as in “the plants want watering”; it is a different meaning and construction.
Key details
Confusion Familygrammar-and-usage distinction
Rule Familyverb complement pattern
TermsWant Doing, Want To Do
Further guidance
Decision
Choose by meaning: “I want to water the plants” expresses desire; “the plants want watering” means the plants need to be watered.
Desire Pattern
Use want + to-infinitive when the subject desires to perform the following action.
Need Pattern
In informal usage, especially British English, want + -ing can mean “need to be done,” with the subject receiving rather than performing the action.
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.
