Vaivara  +  380484 Sat, 16 Jun 07 09:05 PM While giving an advise to someone I said: ‘I don’t know how deep and far you want to go…’ meaning I didn’t know if she needed just brief definition or maybe more serious article on the subject we were discussing.  My son, for whom English is native tongue, said it doesn’t sound right and I should say ‘I don’t know in depth …’   Can you please help me?  Which one is right?  My son’s advise doesn’t sound right for me for some reason.   Thank you. Vaivara Joined on Sat, Jun 16 2007 New Member 02 Articles, Whom

	Yankee  +  380491 Sat, 16 Jun 07 09:19 PM  Vaivara wrote: While giving some advice to someone I said: ‘I don’t know how deep and far you want to go…’ meaning I didn’t know if she needed just brief definition or maybe a more in-depth article on the subject we were discussing.  My son, for whom English is native tongue, said it doesn’t sound right and I should say ‘I don’t know in depth …’   Can you please help me?  Which one is right?  My son’s advice doesn’t sound right for me for some reason.   Thank you. I don't find your wording ("how deep") to be unusual -- especially not in conversational English.  I suppose you could have also said "I don't know how in-depth you want to go" (i.e. since the word 'depth' is a noun, in order to use 'in depth' as an adjective, it needs to be hyphenated:  in-depth).  You could have also said "how deeply". Yankee Joined on Sat, Apr 15 2006 Connecticut, USA Veteran Member 6,506 Amy "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain Articles, Nouns, Whom, Conversational English

	Cool Breeze  +  380506 Sat, 16 Jun 07 11:21 PM  Yankee wrote: I suppose you could have also said "I don't know how in-depth you want to go" (i.e. since the word 'depth' is a noun, in order to use 'in depth' as an adjective, it needs to be hyphenated:  in-depth).  You could have also said "how deeply". Hi Yankee With respect, I disagree with you. In-depth should be hyphenated when it is an adjective, yes, but it isn't an adjective in your sentence and to my mind shouldn't be used at all as an adverb. Deeply isn't a very good word after go either. It would be good in a sentence like: I deeply regret having said that. Cheers CB Cool Breeze Joined on Fri, Apr 7 2006 Senior Member 3,979 "I hope you'll all live to be 150 years old - and the last voice you hear is mine!" Frank Sinatra on stage in Oslo, Norway, 28 September 1991 Verbs, Nouns, Adverbs

	Yankee  +  380532 Sun, 17 Jun 07 01:02 AM Hi CB With equal respect, one reason I said "I suppose" was because, although the sentence would be understood, I was reluctant to accept it outright.  A more typical question might be "How in-depth do you want this?" Would you argue with this sentence? How deeply do you want to go into this? Yankee

	Yankee  +  380570 Sun, 17 Jun 07 07:45 AM Hi again, CB The original sentence with "deep and far" was possibly incomplete. It trailed off with "...", so I don't know what may or may not have been added at the end.  However, as regards your comments about 'go', it really would not be unusual to hear a sentence such as this: "How detailed do you want to go?" (Meaning: "How detailed do you want it to be?" or "How much detail do you want to have?) A possible response might be: "Let's go with excruciatingly detailed." Other sentences: How pink do you want to go?  (i.e. Do you want a subtle or a shocking degree of pink?) How rare do you want to go? (i.e. What degree of 'rare' are you after?) Saying "How in-depth do you want to go?" would be the same format -- i.e. I see 'in-depth' as an adjective. Yankee Regards

	Cool Breeze  +  380587 Sun, 17 Jun 07 10:20 AM  Yankee wrote: Would you argue with this sentence? How deeply do you want to go into this? Hi Yankee I wouldn't use it. For me the difference between deep and deeply is pretty much the same as the difference between high and highly: We were flying high. (concrete) I think highly of him. (abstract) Of course "going into something" can't be measured by the meter and thus the usage is more abstract than "flying high." As my signature implies, let everybody have their way! This time my way was different and I just wanted to point it out. Cheers CB Cool Breeze Difference Between

	Stannum  +  380597 Sun, 17 Jun 07 10:41 AM G'day Vaivara, While giving advice to someone I said, 'I don't know how deep and far you want to go...' This sounds a bit redundant as deep and far basically mean the same under these circumstances.  How about; While giving advice to someone I said, 'I don't know how deep you want to go...' While giving advice to someone I said, 'I don't know how far you want to go...' While giving advice to someone I said, 'I don't know the depths you want to go...' While giving advice to someone I said, 'I don't know to what depth you want to go...' Stannum Stannum Joined on Fri, Oct 28 2005 Melbourne Australia Regular Member 526

	Stannum  +  380909 Mon, 18 Jun 07 05:33 AM  Anonymous wrote: Thanks a lot Stannum.  Mate, All I need is a slightly intelligible question and I am away (if I know an answer) and then the challenge is for me to be intelligible in reply. It is a marvelous exercise in linguistic bridge building. Stannum May your today bring you something your yesterday forgot to wish for. Stannum