Oxford directly records careful + to-infinitive and careful about + noun/gerund, supporting this complement comparison.
ReviewedEvidence1 sourceSectionEnglish Usage
Quick answer
Use “careful to do something” when describing deliberate care in performing an action. Use “careful about something/doing something” when naming the matter or activity toward which caution is directed.
Key details
Confusion Familyverb-complement
Rule Familyverb-complementation
Termscareful to do, careful about something
Further guidance
Core difference
Oxford documents careful + to-infinitive and careful about + noun/gerund as standard patterns.
Style Boundary
The patterns overlap semantically but are not mechanically interchangeable; preserve about when the complement is the object/activity of caution.
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.
Careful↗ (opens in a new tab)Oxford University Press · Direct learner-dictionary evidence for careful about + noun/gerund and careful + to-infinitive.
Cambridge directly records amazed + to-infinitive and amazed at + complement, making it an evidence-safe replacement for the unsupported Satisfied proposal.
Oxford directly records both ashamed + to-infinitive and ashamed of + noun/pronoun. The guide compares those attested structures without inventing an unsupported parallel complement.
Oxford directly documents averse to (doing) something. This is a prepositional to + noun/-ing construction, so a bare infinitive should not be assumed to be an interchangeable complement.
Oxford documents the idiomatic adjective pattern bent on (doing) something for determination. The evidence does not license a parallel bent + to-infinitive complement for that same meaning.
Cambridge directly records certain + to-infinitive and certain of + noun, allowing the two attested structures to be compared without claiming they are freely interchangeable.
