Importantly, we need to figure out how to pay the rent. See more. Comparative for very important in nature. “Choose whichever you prefer, and whichever reads better in your specific context.”, Another guide, Garner’s Modern English Usage (4th ed. Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage (4th ed., edited by Jeremy Butterfield) has this to say about “important” and “importantly”: “Preceded by more or most, both words comment on the sentence or clause containing them.” Both, Butterfield notes, “work perfectly well” and are standard. It only takes a minute to sign up. More importantly, there can be a big difference, both physically and emotionally from 13 to 15, so not everything appropriate for 15 year olds is appropriate for 13 year olds. Regions for numerically defined Toroidal surfaces. A correct usage would be “he spoke importantly” … It seems that this prohibition was enforced until the 1940's when more importantly started to break out of the prescriptive box. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language (1985), by Randolph Quirk et al., uses these examples in discussing adjectives that can modify an entire sentence: “Most important, his report offered prospects of a great profit” and “More remarkable still, he is in charge of the project.”, These adjective constructions, according to Quirk, behave “like comment clauses introduced by what.” (That is, they can be regarded as elliptical for “What is most important” and “What is more remarkable still.”), Furthermore, the book says, with a few such adjectives, the “corresponding adverb can be substituted for the adjective with little or no difference in meaning.”, Nevertheless, Quirk adds, “Objections have been voiced against both most important … and most importantly. At issue is the ly, which some find unnecessary (and somewhat snooty).Many sticklers do not accept importantly in the two sentences that follow: I left my bed and, more importantly, I left the house.Most importantly, Churchill was a statesman.Critics of those sentences would prefer "more important" (what is more … Is Elastigirl's body shape her natural shape, or did she choose it? A similar graph appears for more interestingly. By the turn of the millennium, more interestingly was 8 times more popular than in 1940. I assume Paul Brians earned his stripes to become Emeritus Professor of English Washington State University, but it seems his prescriptive opinion about leading with a sentence adverb has been overruled by Everyman: When speakers are trying to impress audiences with their rhetoric, Similarly, "firstly" should generally be "first," etc. 34. importantly in a sentence - Use "importantly" in a sentence 1. The prohibition also flies in the face of conventional usage: See the usage graph for more importantly. . ), notes that “more important as a sentence-starter has historically been considered an elliptical form of ‘What is more important …’ and hence the -ly form is sometimes thought to be less desirable.”, However, Garner’s says, “criticism of more importantly and most importantly” has dwindled and can now be “easily dismissed as picayunish pedantry.”, The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, by Rodney Huddleston and Geoffrey K. Pullum, would categorize each version, “more important” or “more importantly,” as an “evaluative adjunct,” an element that precedes a statement and “expresses the speaker’s evaluation of it.” The first version would be an “evaluative adjective,” the second an “evaluative adverb.”. More important/interesting works in some situations. How does one support 'This is my preference' evolving so rapidly into 'similarly one, @EdwinAshworth Likewise, 'Sure, I'd speak with your boss' is not the same as 'Shirley, I'd speak with your boss'. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Cookie Policy, Privacy Policy, and our Terms of Service. As an adverb, more is an extremely flexible modifier: a word that modifies a verb, adjective, other adverb, determiner, noun Contexts. Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers. Leading with a sentence adverb was once considered pompous, but the expression has scored a reversal, and the prohibition is now pure pretension.