[General] We must look further into the matter.

Status
Not open for further replies.

Silverobama

Key Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
China
Current Location
China
My friend asked me to invest in his online business. He wanted me to give him some money and then we sell things online. I don't think it really works doing and besides I don't have much money. But I really didn't want to discourage him, so I said to him "We must look further into the matter". He said someone he knows earns much money by doing the same thing.

Is the italic sentence natural? If the sentence is not natural in my context, I'm just curious, in what context is it possible to be used?
 
My friend asked me to invest in his online business. He wanted me to give him some money [STRIKE]and then[/STRIKE] so that we can sell things online. I don't think it will really [STRIKE]works[/STRIKE] work [STRIKE]doing[/STRIKE] and besides, I don't have much money. [STRIKE]But[/STRIKE] I really didn't want to discourage him, so I said to him "We must look further into the matter". He said someone he knows earns [STRIKE]much[/STRIKE] a lot of money by doing the same thing.

Is the italic sentence natural? If the sentence is not natural in my context, I'm just curious, in what context is it possible to be used?

Note my changes above. It's grammatically correct but it sounds very stilted and old-fashioned. Natural would be things like:
Let's look into it a bit more.
I'll need more info before making a decision.
Why don't we hold fire and do a bit more research first?
 
Much appreciated, emsr2d2.

Is "We must look further into the matter" natural in some context? Or it's just not natural in any context.
 
It sounds like something Sherlock Holmes would have said.

In any context I can think of, as emsr2d2 said, It's grammatically correct but it sounds very stilted and old-fashioned.
 
Last edited:
Who is "we"? You and your friend?

How about "Let me look further into it"?
 
Who is "we"? You and your friend?

How about "Let me look further into it"?

Yes.

I think he also needs to look further into it.
 
Note my changes above. It's grammatically correct but it sounds very stilted and old-fashioned. Natural would be things like:
Let's look into it a bit more.
I'll need more info before making a decision.
Why don't we hold fire and do a bit more research first?
Other good ways to say it include:

- It might be a good idea. We should learn more.

- It sounds interesting. Let's find out what it would take.​

And verbose people like using "feasible":

- Let's find out if it's feasible.

- We should look into the feasibility.​
 
Much appreciated, emsr2d2.

Is "We must look further into the matter" natural in some context?

No.

Or it's just not natural in any context.
It's grammatical and makes sense, but it's very stilted. I like the Sherlock Holmes comment above. Some people talked that way once upon a time, but it's not at all natural in present-day English.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Ask a Teacher

If you have a question about the English language and would like to ask one of our many English teachers and language experts, please click the button below to let us know:

(Requires Registration)
Back
Top