be gone into

[ostap77]

If an issue needed to be considered carefully, could I say "This issue needs to be gone into with carefulness"?

 

[cereal_chick]

That is a correct construction, " to be gone into" is the passive infinitive of "to go into". Although I doubt you would say go into an issue.

[Not a teacher]

 

[5jj]

If an issue needed to be considered carefully, could I say "This issue needs to be gone into with carefulness"?

No. It needs to be carefully gone into or, possibly, gone into with care.

 

[ostap77]

I guess you go into a matter not in a matter?!

 

[ostap77]

"With carefulness" is grammatically awkward? Or is it just "carefulness"?

 

[5jj]

"With carefulness" is garmmatically awkward?

It's wrong.

 

[ostap77]

What's wrong about it? Grammatically or stilistically?

 

[bhaisahab]

Until today I had never met with "carefulness".

 

[ostap77]

You're going to be surprised what's new in dictionaries!! Or is it what someone hears or doesn't hears?!

 

[bhaisahab]

You're going to be surprised what's new in dictionaries!!

It's not new, just obscure. Browse 1828 => Word CAREFULNESS :: Search the 1828 Noah Webster's Dictionary of the English Language (FREE) :: 1828.mshaffer.com

 

[ostap77]

Look it up in careful - Definition and pronunciation | Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com. I believe it would be a British dictionary?!

 

[emsr2d2]

That's interesting. I came to the thread late but had I been here earlier, I too would have marked "carefulness" as incorrect on the basis that the word just isn't used/doesn't exist. However, I have now found it in several online dictionaries showing it as the noun relating to the adverb "carefully". I still think it sounds awkward and agree that "it should be carefully gone into" sounds better.

 

[ostap77]

I've even got it in my non-oline dictionary. And it even is on COCAE. Would it be old-fashioned or rare? It's even been used on whitehouse.gov. And it's even been used on BBC.

 

[emsr2d2]

Given that it appears in all those dictionaries, I certainly stand corrected about its existence but I don't think I've heard it used! If I were asked to come up with the noun related to "carefully", I would just say "care".

He did it carefully = He did it with care. I wouldn't use "He did it with carefulness".

 

[bhaisahab]

Given that it appears in all those dictionaries, I certainly stand corrected about its existence but I don't think I've heard it used! If I were asked to come up with the noun related to "carefully", I would just say "care".

He did it carefully = He did it with care. I wouldn't use "He did it with carefulness".

It is listed as a noun in the entries for "careful" in several dictionaries. The only dictionary I can find that gives examples of its use is the Websters 1828 edition.

 

[david11]

She bathed and dressed with utmost carefulness and succeeded in doing this without waking anybody.

What about this sentence ?

 

[david11]

It's wrong.

Please explain how it is wrong.

 

[emsr2d2]

Well, given that we've established that it's in dictionaries and could be used, I wouldn't go so far as to say it's wrong. However, I would certainly say its extremely unlikely to be used by any native speaker and many would assume it was wrong if they heard it. I would use "she bathed and dressed with [the] utmost care..."