Is This Issue Important?

Writers and speakers sometimes wonder whether to use “more important” or “more importantly” at the beginning of a sentence. Or “most important” versus “most importantly.”

According to the traditional school, “more important” is correct because it’s an abbreviation of the phrase “What is more important…” But some experts disagree, and their arguments are equally valid.

Thus, in most cases, it makes no difference whether you choose the adjectival or adverbial form. “More important, she has a doctorate” is as acceptable as “More importantly, she has a doctorate.” As one dictionary notes: “Both forms are widely used by reputable writers, and there is no obvious reason for preferring one or the other.”

Some grammatical debates are trivial. This is one of them.

[Ed Note: For more than three decades, Don Hauptman was an award-winning independent direct-response copywriter and creative consultant. He is author of The Versatile Freelancer, an e-book recently published by AWAI that shows writers and other creative professionals how to diversify their careers into speaking, consulting, training, and critiquing.]  

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