I must be careful not to lose vs I must be careful to not lose

Both phrases are correct, but the more common structure is 'I must be careful not to lose.' The placement of 'not' before 'to lose' is the standard form in English.

Last updated: March 31, 2024

I must be careful not to lose

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

This phrase is used to express the need to be cautious in order to avoid losing something.

Examples:

I must be careful not to lose my keys again.
She must be careful not to lose her temper during the meeting.
You must be careful not to lose focus on your goals.
He must be careful not to lose sight of his values.
They must be careful not to lose track of time.

Show examples from the web [+]

Earlier, I heard one speaker say that we must be careful not to lose our citizens.
We have to be careful not to lose the emotion.
I have to be careful not to lose my footing.
Be careful not to lose your soul.
Be careful not to lose your 10000 francs...
Be careful not to lose his job.
You just got to be careful not to lose your separate selves along the way.
From now on, we must all be careful not to lose the King's love, or everything is lost.
We must therefore be careful not to lose sight of our responsibilities to Central Asia simply because we wish to strengthen relations with countries adjacent to the EU to its immediate east.
Careful not to lose it on the way, Sticky Fingers. It's been counted.
The Americans are no angels when it comes to WTO negotiations and we have to be very careful not to lose out in those negotiations.
But in front of the others, I must be careful not to reveal myself.
[Enid] I must be careful not to make the same mistake.
Into the woods without delay But careful not to lose the way
Be careful, don't lose my tapes.
Be careful, you could lose your fingerprints.
We must be careful not to warn him.
We must be careful not to give him an excuse.
In developing a standard, the Union must be careful not to stifle innovation.
Young girls must be careful not to be bothered by bad men.

Alternatives:

I must be careful to not lose
I must be careful so as not to lose
I must be careful in order not to lose
I must be careful to avoid losing
I must be careful to prevent losing

I must be careful to not lose

This phrase is correct but less common in English.

This phrase is also used to convey the idea of being cautious to prevent losing something, but the placement of 'to not lose' is less typical.

Examples:

I must be careful to not lose my train of thought.
She must be careful to not lose her balance on the tightrope.
You must be careful to not lose your way in the forest.
He must be careful to not lose his patience with the children.
They must be careful to not lose their luggage at the airport.

Show examples from the web [+]

Earlier, I heard one speaker say that we must be careful not to lose our citizens.
We have to be careful not to lose the emotion.
I have to be careful not to lose my footing.
Be careful not to lose your soul.
Be careful not to lose your 10000 francs...
Be careful not to lose his job.
Be careful, don't lose my tapes.
Be careful, you could lose your fingerprints.
Third, we need to increase the use of combined heat and power, and we must be careful that this option does not lose out because of the liberalisation of the internal energy market.
You just got to be careful not to lose your separate selves along the way.
From now on, we must all be careful not to lose the King's love, or everything is lost.
One must be careful to has the advantage in such situations.
In addition we must be careful to avoid tripping up here.
However, we must be careful to ensure that the information is properly calculated and presented.
We must be careful to avoid contradiction here.
Nevertheless, we must be careful to consider which combination of instruments will be particularly effective.
Better. But I must be careful.
She warned me that I must be careful.
Of course, I must be careful...
I must be careful what I say.

Alternatives:

I must be careful not to lose
I must be careful so as not to lose
I must be careful in order not to lose
I must be careful to avoid losing
I must be careful to prevent losing

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I must be careful not to lose vs I must be careful to not lose