Take care

Posted by TheFallen on April 03, 2002

In Reply to: Take care posted by K. Yone on April 03, 2002

: Hi!

: Can I use 'take care' when I create a techinical writing such as the following.

: 'Take care not touch the region coated with hydroxyapatite.'

: Does 'Take care' sound informal and unnatural for this type of wrting?

: Thank you for your help.

: Best wishes,

: K. Yone

It doesn't sound particularly unnatural to me (the correct usage would actually be "Take care not *to* touch the region...").

However, if you want to be definitely formal, you might want to consider using the imperative phrase "Avoid touching the region...". A lot of technical instructions tend to be quite abrupt and impersonal, and this would then fit in with that style.