Oxford documents wish-clause patterns and formal/polite wish + to-infinitive. A bare gerund after “wish” is not a like-for-like alternative, so the guide separates infinitive use from clause use.
ReviewedEvidence2 sourcesSectionEnglish Usage
Quick answer
Use “wish to do” in formal or polite statements of desire. For unreal or unlikely situations, “wish” more often introduces a clause; bare “wish doing” is not the standard parallel complement.
Key details
Confusion Familygrammar-and-usage distinction
Rule Familyverb complement pattern
TermsWish Doing, Wish To Do
Further guidance
Clause Boundary
Use a wish-clause construction for unreal, unlikely, regretted, or desired situations rather than forcing those meanings into the infinitive pattern.
Decision
Do not treat bare “wish doing” as the standard gerund counterpart of “wish to do.”
To Infinitive
Use wish + to-infinitive for a formal or polite expression of wanting to perform an 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.
