Language tip of the week: contribute

In this weekly post, we bring more useful content from the Macmillan Dictionary to English language learners. These tips are usually based on areas of English which learners find difficult, e.g. spelling, grammar, collocation, synonyms, etc.

This week’s language tip helps with the verb contribute:

Don’t use a verb in the infinitive after contribute. Use the pattern contribute to doing something:
✗ Technology has ~~contributed to improve~~ our lives.
✓ Technology has contributed to improving our lives.
✗ A positive aspect of education is that it ~~contributes to confirm~~ one’s identity.
✓ A positive aspect of education is that it contributes to confirming one’s identity.

You can also use the pattern contribute to something:
Technology has contributed to improvements in our lives.